The only complete body of paintings of ancient Greece and Rome to have survived until our time: the portraits and treasures from the oasis of Fayum.
[Fayum. Mysterious faces from Egypt] The catalogue of the spectacular exhibition of portraits and treasures from the oasis of Fayum, assembled by the British Museum and the Memmo Foundation in 1997, documents an event of exceptional artistic and historical value, evoking the same interest prompted one century ago by the discovery of the very beautiful, mysterious portraits: the only complete body of paintings of ancient Greece and Rome to have survived until our time. The portraits – made from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, with the technique of encaustic or tempera painting on panels, linen, cartonnage and plaster – are true masks that were applied to the faces of the deceased, perfect reproductions of their features. The portraits of Fayum still represent the only surviving examples of the Greek art of painting. The volume also features splendid illustrations and intriguing critical essays.