https://kelseymuseum.wordpress.com/2017/07/18/investigating-color-on-a-roman-egyptian-mummy-portrait/
Investigating color on a Roman-Egyptian mummy portrait
BY CAROLINE ROBERTS, Conservator, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
This week a team from the Detroit Institute of Arts conservation department traveled to the Kelsey to take a closer look at one of our Fayoum mummy portraits. The portrait is normally on display in the Dynastic Egypt gallery and is dated to the Roman period of Egypt (79 – 110 AD). The woman featured in the portrait is clearly of means, as her gold earrings and necklace, colorful gems, and purple robe indicate. We were curious to learn more about the colorants that were used to paint her portrait and to look for painting details that have become harder to see over time.
Christina Bisulca, conservation scientist at the DIA, brought along a portable spectrometer to identify pigments on the painting. She found evidence of pigment mixtures in multiple areas of the portrait, including the flesh tones, the oval gem at the center of the woman's pendant, and the drapery of the robe. It appears that the various shades of purple in the robe were likely created by mixing and laying blue and red pigments and dyes, for example. Further analysis is needed to verify these results.
Aaron Steele, the DIA conservation department's imaging specialist, brought along their powerful infrared camera to see if underdrawing might have been used to sketch the sitter before paint was applied. Although underdrawing was not immediately visible, details of curls along the hairline and sectioning of the woman's hair could be seen in the infrared images. Details of paint application next to the woman's face are also much more visible in the infrared. I also had the chance to capture ultraviolet images and produce infrared false color images which provide good information on the distribution of certain pigments (including rose madder and Egyptian blue) over the surface.
We look forward to learning more about the Fayoum portrait over the next year and to featuring the results in an upcoming Kelsey exhibition about color in the Roman world. Many thanks to our friends at the Detroit Institute of Arts for their support of this project!
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