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FAYUM PORTRAIT OF PTOLEMY XII NEOS SOTOR
Fayum Oasis, Egypt, 80 BC (?)
Encaustic on cedar plank, 21x30cm
Collection of the Pushkin Museum, Moscow
'Fayum Portraits' refer to a series of some 900 strikingly-naturalistic funerary paintings,
most commonly found at burial sites within Egypt's Fayum Oasis. Dating from the Hellenistic
and early Imperial Roman eras, they remain one of classical antiquity's only surviving examples
of panel painting and reflect the complex fusion of Egyptian and Greek cultures brought about
by Ptolemaic rule. Ptolemy XII's portrait remains one of the earliest examples yet discovered,
possibly painted to mark his coronation in 80 BC. As was often the case for Fayum Portraits, it
likely would have remained privately displayed until the Pharaoh's death, at which point it would
have been taken down and fastened over the head of his mummified remains as part of the
embalming process.
Ptolemy XII's tomb - along with the mummy and its attached portrait - were accidentally
discovered in 1800 during artillery training exercises by French troops in Napoleon's Egyptian
expedition. The now infamous collection of lurid sculptures and other artworks found within
caused a scandal among the French public - even at a time of wild fascination with ancient Egypt,
the portrait was one of the few pieces discovered deemed suitable for public display. It
eventually wound up passed among various Russian collections following the end of the
Napoleonic Wars - a popular but apocryphal belief is that Czar Alexander I personally smuggled
the painting out of Paris by hiding it under his greatcoat.
An extraordinary piece from
SatynaPaper . I came across a number of her historically-inspired paintings some time ago and figured she'd be ideal for a work like this. She evidentially had access to real Fayum portraits to take observations from and I think she got their characteristic uncanniness down beautifully.
Category Artwork (Traditional) / Portraits
Species Snake / Serpent
Size 888 x 1280px
File Size 442.6 kB
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