“Fayum” (2)

Description

Whilst researching information and inspiration for the “Women around Jesus” possible painting series, I came across many photos, some of saints and women in the Bible who were familiar and then, photos of which this painting is part of.  They are Fayum Portraits. Then an interesting article “Women in Ancient Christianity”, featuring the photo of the above original Fayum colour portrait- but with no credit or information about the photo.  I had already seen in my earlier research, and concluded that this was indeed serendipity.  Fayum Mummy portraits are amongst the most ancient and most beautiful artifact paintings, created some 2000 years ago and which have survived from the ancient world.  Mummy portraits or Fayum mummy  or funerary portraits are a type of naturalistic painted portrait on wooden boards attached to upper class mummies from Roman Egypt. They belong to the tradition of panel painting, one of the most highly regarded forms of art in the Classical world. The Fayum portraits are the only large body of art from that tradition to have survived. They were formerly, and incorrectly, called Coptic portraits.