Mysterious Fayum Portraits by Euphrosyne Doxiadis

by Euphrosyne Doxiadis

The Fayum, a flourishing metropolitan community in ancient Egypt, consisted of Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, Libyans, and others. Like many of their contemporaries throughout the Nile Valley, these people embalmed their dead and then painted commemorative portraits of them, usually on wood or linen, to be placed over the mummies. Looking into the well-preserved, startlingly lifelike faces collected in this beautiful volume, one can trace the earliest roots of portraiture as it began in these Greco-Roman Fayum, or mummy, portraits, and continued through the Renaissance to the present. Despite their ancient history, the stylized portraits appear strikingly modern and painterly, with echoes of Modigliani and Matisse. Having experimented with them herself, Euphrosyne Doxiadis describes in detail the painting techniques and materials. Also included are fascinating notes on the clothing, jewelry, and hairstyles of the period.

Genres: Art, Egypt, Art History, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Pat Padden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paging through this book is the closest you will ever come to a face-to-face encounter with an Egyptian from the first century A.D. They're Roman citizens by this time - and they're not all Egyptian-born, but they live in the Fayum, a little to the southwest of Cairo and overlapping the site of ancient Crocodilopolis. They're Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, Romans, Nubians, Libyans, and Jews. When they died, their bodies were embalmed much as bodies were in ancient times, and their portraits were painted on wood panels and placed over the face of the mummy to commemorate the appearance of the individual. You will never, I promise you, see any portraits that look more uncannily alive. This is an art book, but there's something so touching and so compellingly present about these PEOPLE and not these "works of art" that you could almost weep for their loss.


"Sunt lacrimae rerum, et menem mortalia tangunt," as Virgil once said.

[O · Rating 4 out of 5]

The portraits are magnificent and the subjects could easily be our contemporaries with their tasteful clothes, jewelry and soulful gazes. Many actually remind me of people I know in Egypt and the Middle East. Technically they are fascinating too being painted on wood or linen with encaustic, tempera or other media and how the artists used various techniques to enhance the portraits. Perhaps the only complaint I have is the that the extensive acknowledgements section includes one or two Egyptians only.

[Suzanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stray mention of the Fayum mummy portraits in Pagan Holiday last month led to a quick google search, a delighted gasp, and an immediate request for this book from the library. The book is filled with gorgeous color images of the portraits, many of them actual size. The commentary is written by a painter, who brings her own artistic perspective to the experience. This was a really fantastic introduction into the subject.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent images and some good text. Could be more detailed with information and comparanda in documentary and material evidence.

[Ludo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Achtergronden en technieken van de beroemde Fajum-mummieportretten uit Egypte uit de eerste eeuwen van onze jaartelling
Deze portretten zijn echter nog veel te weinig gekend.
Ze zijn schitterend en ongelofelijk fris en modern, wat bijzonder is voor deze schilderijen op mummies.
Dit boek is zeer boeiend omdat het naast de cultuurhistorische en sociaal/religieuze achtergrond ook veel vertelt over de techniek en de artistieke kwaliteiten. (geschreven door een Griekse kunstenares).