Telegram-herald., 1889-10-04
EGYPTIAN Wax PORTRAITS.
The AAcisDt Egyptians as skilled Art
isr..

ists.
When the m0derns read ~ Piny OF ths
extreme degree OF excellence 20 which
Greek artists Lad attained n his day aud of
tee prices which some Of their works
fetched, &c ulyslent 10 ten or twelve toou-
sand pounds ol cur money, scholars and
other competent authorities dismissed these
as travellers tales. They could not bring
themselves % believe that these stories
were true, or that Rubens, HOibein, SIR
Thomas Lawrence and other later celebri-
ties had been anticipated. IL not surpassed,
fn the centuries before the Christian era
And yet il was 80, and Pliny 40 mere than
Herodotus deserved 70 DC called the falaer
of G8rs.
The graves have given up their dead, and
revealed secrets which II was thought had
been forever hidden in the tomb. IL is
from the land OF Egypt that these
discoveries come. The explorations on
the site OF Memphis and Thsbes had pre-
pared the way for the discoveries in the
province OF Faijum. These consist Of a
number OF portraits found in the sand al
Rnbsijat, which are in the possession OF
rheodor Graf in Vienna, and are now on
view at the Societe d Encouragement pour
pIndustrie Rationale, a Rue dc Rennes.
According 10 ancient Egyptian custom
the countenance Of the deceased was repre-
sented at the head of the mummy or cofln.
This custom was adhered 10 in the GrRoo-
Roman epoch Of Egypt, but instead Of the
plastic head, which up 10 that time had been
alone Ia use, painting was substituted,
representing real portrait of the deceased
These portraits, which were painted on a
thin panel Of wood, were laid over the face
Of the mumnies, the outer bandsges Of the
shrouds being then wrapped about them SO
as TO cover the margin OF the picture, the
latter alone beng left visible. A mummy
Of this kind, therefore, presented the APP
pearance OF living body, looking out of an
opening in the bandages for the survivors
70 gaze upon in the collins. the lids Of which
were made TO be thrown back for that pur-
pose.
The only other graves where these curious
pictorial works have been found were
opened in the winter Of 1sS7-SS by the En-
glish engineer, Mr.. Petrle, at Harvard, but
the pictures discovered in them are said 10 be
not nearly equal to the specimens discovered
al Rubaijat. The tombs themselves built In
the rocks were ransacked ages ago by
thieves, who, in their search for gold, de-
stroyed both collins and mummies. Luckily
the pilferers deemed the pictures to be Of
no value and so they were thrown away
but not to perish-in the dry dust of the
desert.
Herr Crafts collection numbers ninety
five spec ecimens Of varying interest in point
OF execution, but all valuable as works Of
art. They are portraits on cypress wood,
the more ancient being painted in wax COL
ors, laid on with the cestrum or spatula, q
IN p=Tr %
mems being produced by water colors, 10
which was added the yelk and white of
eggs, or other resinous binding substance.
The painting with wax was done without
the employment Of heat, and without using
the brush, the ancients being ignorant OF
the process Of dissolving wax IN turpen-
tine.
On examining these rows OF heads gaz.
ing calmly out Of large lustrous eyes, shut
now for over two thousand years, ore
seems TO be brought face TO face with the
past of humanity In a more real way than
has hitherto been in our rower. One Is
also struck with the modern look of many
of these ancient portraits There Is face of
an old man Of wonderful force OF character
and intellectual power The painter Menzel,
of Berlin, has declared that nothing finer
than this has been done in portrait painting
The female faces are nearly all tinged with
melancholy, but some are of great beauty,
and they almost without exception reveal
traces Of the distinction Of tho originals.
There is a very modern head of an old lady
with short gray locks. The fidelity of exc
cution In these paintings IS so great that
doctors have been able 20 detect the exist
ence Of dropsy. The French Government is
In treaty for the collection, the value Of
which is estimated at about N40,O00.-The
Architev