[REVISION HISTORY]

Fayum mummy portrait restoration and exhibition

Updated 2 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-13 20:11 UTC → 2026-10-14 09:30 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Egypt and Italy have collaborated on the restoration of the ‘Tondo of the Two Brothers,’ a rare 2nd-century circular encaustic painting from the Fayum mummy portrait collection. The restoration process, conducted by specialists from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir and Italian experts from Rome’s Fabrica Conservazione e Restauro and the Museo dell’Ara Pacis, focused on addressing the fragility of the wooden support and painted surface through minimal intervention. The three-week conservation campaign addressed specific damage from wood-boring insects and corrected errors from previous interventions, such as incorrectly reassembled facial fragments. To stabilize the piece, conservators utilized discreet balsa-wood supports. ~~Marking~~ Following the completion of the restoration, Egypt has unveiled the piece, which is now prepared to leave the country for the first time ~~such a collection will travel abroad, the~~ in history. The restored masterpiece—which depicts two individuals and reflects a cultural intersection of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman influences—is set to be a centerpiece for a major exhibition in Rome. Titled ‘The Power of Portraiture. Egypt and Rome: Faces of Fayum,’ the exhibition is scheduled to run at the Ara Pacis Museum from November 5, 2026, to May 2, 2027. The exhibition will feature over 110 objects, including painted panels, masks, and funerary shrouds, with some works loaned from institutions such as the Louvre.

Versions

Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.