Roman; Portrait of a Woman (detail), second century; water-based media on wood panel; 10 1/8 x 5 7/8 inches, box mount: 19 x 14 7/8 x 2 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Max A. Goldstein 128:1951
Conservators at the Saint Louis Art Museum undertook a comprehensive technical study of two Egyptian funerary portraits from the collection, Portrait of a Young Boy and Portrait of a Woman.
The two portraits on wooden panels date from the Roman period in the second century, exhumed from the Fayum region. These paintings were once incorporated into the wrappings of mummified human remains as part of the Egyptian funerary ritual. The results of the study, including materials identification, contribute to the APPEAR Project (Ancient Panel Paintings: Examination, Analysis, and Research), a global research initiative sponsored by the J. Paul Getty Trust. Institutions from all over the world have brought together historic, technical, and analytical discoveries regarding these paintings to create a large database, comparative studies, and global connections.
Roman; Portrait of a Woman, second century; water-based media on wood panel; 10 1/8 x 5 7/8 inches, box mount: 19 x 14 7/8 x 2 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Max A. Goldstein 128:1951
Much of this research concerns SLAM’s Portrait of a Woman, which may have been painted by the same artist or workshop as similar portraits in the Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Art Gallery. In fact, scholars have named this artist “the Saint Louis Painter.”
These similar paintings were all brought together during Harvard’s 2022 exhibition Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt: Facing Forward. The exhibition included numerous technical details about these works and how they were created. SLAM’s painting was highlighted prominently; the exhibition explained the materials found by our conservators’ investigation and how they relate to the Harvard and Yale works. An online feature, Looking for the Saint Louis Painter, allows visitors to examine for themselves the differences and similarities between the portraits. Additionally, the comparison of these works was presented at the second APPEAR conference, hosted by the Allard Pierson Museum at the University of Amsterdam in October 2022. A publication of the conference proceedings, Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt: Emerging Research from the APPEAR project, vol. 2, is forthcoming.
To investigate the materials and techniques of the portraits, conservators combined advanced specialized imaging and analytical instrumentation.
By photographing the painting under different wavelengths of light and also using high magnification, conservators may glean a lot of information. Ultraviolet illumination can reveal past repairs and different pigments that may look seamless to the naked eye. Infrared light can penetrate through layers of paint and reveal details invisible on the surface, like design sketches or changes in the composition. High-magnification microscopes allow researchers to see pigment particles and the subtleties of layered brushwork. X-radiography shows the structure of the wooden panel and aspects of the paint layers. This careful visual observation is then combined with scientific analysis, such as X-ray florescence, or XRF, spectrometry. XRF is a technique that identifies the chemical elements present in a material. The various elements can then be correlated to known pigments and paint mixtures to help identify the artist’s materials.
Looking at the use of reds in Portrait of a Young Boy gives one example of the way conservators piece together all the information.
The straps, or clavi, of the tunic are visually painted red, and it would be expected for the skin tones to be a mixture of red and white to create peach. The XRF spectra for the skin (point A) and the strap (point B) are extremely similar, indicating the use of the same materials. The area circled in yellow is the spike indicating the element iron. Iron oxide, used throughout history, is a common red pigment made from clay. The other large peaks are for lead and calcium, both commonly used white pigments.
Egyptian; Portrait of a Young Boy, second century; water-based media on wood panel; irregular: 10 13/16 x 6 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Simon 63:1959
Simply looking at the scientific results, the assumption seems correct that the clavi and skin tones use the same materials, just in different proportions. However, when adding the advanced imaging techniques and looking at the ultraviolet photograph, it becomes clear that something is different in these two areas. The strap glows a light pink, and none of the skin tones glow at all. This light pink glow is characteristic of an organic red pigment called madder, derived from plant roots. The elements in madder will not be detected by the XRF equipment; therefore, the combination of analytical techniques provides stronger clues to solve the pigment puzzle. Conservators must look at a work from many different perspectives using all the tools available to them.
The exciting research into these 1,800-year-old works of art has revealed much about how these Egyptian funerary portraits were created. Visitors can appreciate Portrait of a Young Boy, now on view in the Brent R. Benjamin Gallery 208, and the Museum looks forward to sharing more about these intriguing findings.