Shouky Shaheen Distinguished Lecture

Certainly the most vivid painted portraits to survive from antiquity are the more than 1000 painted portraits of men, women, and children that survive from mummy cases from Roman Egypt, commonly known as Fayum portraits. Dating from the first to third century AD and painted in nuanced combinations of wax encaustic and tempera, these portraits reflect the hybrid Egyptian, Greek and Roman culture of Roman Egypt. How and why were these images made? What can new imaging and scientific analysis reveal about the artistic choices and practices of their creation? Marie Svoboda, director of the international Getty-led APPEAR (Ancient Panel Painting: Examination, Analysis, and Research) Project, presents most recent discoveries.