3 minute read
Art on the Nile
Keeping the Fayum Tradition
Alive in the Modern World
Lora Murphy
This article explores how you can adapt the essence of Fayum painting to modern practices, focusing on encaustic wax and egg tempera techniques and using contemporary materials and methods.
I have always felt a deep emotional and spiritual connection to Egypt, and for many years I brought artists there for retreats, specializing in encaustic, oil, cold wax, and egg tempera portraiture. Faces have captivated my creative focus for as long as I can remember. Although I originally trained as an oil painter, discovering encaustic painting completely transformed my artistic journey. For the past 20 years, I have been dedicated to this ancient medium, constantly exploring new ways to work with it.
Specializing in portraiture, I aim to merge the rich textures and luminous qualities of encaustic with a deeply emotional and modern sensibility. By drawing on techniques rooted in the classical art of the Fayum mummy portraits, I strive to create contemporary works layered with meaning and material. Each face I capture in wax evokes a powerful sense of presence and intimacy, with every portrait telling its own unique story.
My study of the Fayum portrait artists first revealed the profound cultural significance of encaustic painting. These ancient artists didn’t merely represent their subjects; they used encaustic’s malleability and translucency to convey the subtleties of human emotion and experience.
Their mastery continues to inspire me as I explore the interplay of light, color, and texture, keeping this timeless tradition alive in the modern world.
The Fayum Mummy Portraits: A Timeless Art Form
The Fayum mummy portraits, celebrated for their vivid realism and vibrant colors, were created from the late 1st century BCE to the 3rd century AD. These extraordinary works blend Roman portrait realism with Egyptian burial traditions and are among the finest examples of ancient art. The portraits originate from the Fayum district in Roman Egypt, where diverse cultural groups—Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Syrians, Libyans, Nubians, and Jews—lived and worked together.
As part of the funerary process, the bodies of the deceased were embalmed in traditional Egyptian style, but a painted portrait was placed over the mummy’s face. Over 1,000 such portraits of men, women, and children have been discovered. These lifelike portraits were created using hot encaustic wax, cold punic wax, and/or egg tempera techniques.
Today, modern artists can draw inspiration from these ancient methods while adapting them to contemporary materials. The techniques of the Fayum painters remain incredibly relevant, and by using modern tools and materials, we can bring the timeless beauty of the Fayum portraits into our own work, whether through encaustic painting or egg tempera.
The allure of these ancient methods lies not only in their historical significance, but also in the tactile, versatile qualities of the materials. Whether you choose to work with traditional beeswax and pigments or explore modern cold wax mediums and acrylic egg tempera, there are endless possibilities for recreating the luminosity, texture, and lifelike detail that make the Fayum portraits so remarkable.
By blending these ancient techniques with contemporary approaches, we can preserve a rich artistic heritage while opening new avenues for creativity. The realism, texture, and symbolism of the Fayum painters ofer powerful inspiration to contemporary artists seeking to connect with the past, while forging their own unique artistic path.
Understanding the Fayum Portraits
The Fayum portraits, discovered in the Fayum basin of Egypt, played a crucial role in ancient funerary rites. These lifelike portraits were afxed to mummified bodies, serving as representations of the deceased in the afterlife. Interestingly, some portraits were created during the individual's lifetime rather than after the person’s death.
For instance, the young man whose portrait we are examining lived to an old age, as confirmed by the dating of his mummy. This suggests that his portrait may have accompanied him for many years before his burial. Moreover, scuf marks on many mummy casings indicate that these mummies were not immediately buried, but were often kept indoors, becoming part of daily life as the floors were swept around them.
Once the emotional connection between the living and the deceased faded, typically after a couple of generations, the mummies were buried in the desert, often headfirst. This practice inadvertently preserved the portraits with remarkable precision, allowing us to witness their enduring beauty and legacy today.