Egypt to lend Fayum mummy portraits to Rome exhibition

Egypt has unveiled the restored ‘Tondo of the Two Brothers,’ a rare 2nd-century circular painting from the Fayum mummy portrait collection. The restoration was a three-week collaborative effort between specialists from Rome and conservators from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.

The Fayum portraits, created using an encaustic technique of pigments mixed with molten wax, were traditionally placed over the faces of the deceased. The ‘Tondo of the Two Brothers’ is considered exceptional due to its unusual circular shape and its depiction of two individuals rather than one.

Marking the first time such a collection will travel abroad, a major portion of the portraits will be featured in a temporary exhibition in Rome titled ‘The Power of Portraiture. Egypt and Rome: Faces of Fayum.’ The exhibition is scheduled to run from November 2026 to May 2027 at the Ara Pacis Museum and will include over 110 objects, such as painted panels, funerary shrouds, and masks.