Mysterious Fayum Portraits - (paperback) /anglais

The Fayum portraits were created by the people of a flourishing district of Roman Egypt during the first three centuries AD. In the old Egyptian tradition, these people embalmed the bodies of their dead, but then they placed over the mummy, a painted portrait to preserve the memory of each individual. Over 1000 portraits have so far been discovered of men, women and children. This book features over 100 of these ancient paintings. The explanatory text sets the people and the paintings in their social, artistic and geographical context, and describes the artistic techniques used in their creation.