St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-01-04
EGYPTIAN Wax PORTRAITS.

E0YPTIAN WAX PORTRAITS.
Curious WORKS - Art Fosnd - the Hs'es
Of Buried Cities.
Whom the moderns read In Piiny OF
the extreme degree Of excellence 70
which Greek artists had attained in his
day. and OF the prices which some Of
their works fetched. equivalent to fl0-
600 or El2, 900 Of our money. scholars
and other competent authorities dis
missed these as travellers tales They
could not bring themselves to believe
that these stories were true, or tnae
Rubens, .HOlbein, Sir Thomas Law
renee and other later celebrities had
been anticipated. il not surpassed. In
the centuries before the Christian era
And yet it was so. and Pliny no more
than HerOd0tus deserved TO De called
the father Of liars. The graves have
given up their dead and revealed
secrets which it was thought had been
forever hidden in the tomb. 1t -
from the land Of Egypt that these dis
c0veries come The explorations on
the site OF Memphis and Thebes had.
prepared the way for the discoveries
in the province Of Faijum. These
consist Of q number of portraits found
in the sand Mt Rubaijat which are in
the possession Of Theodore Graf in VI
emma, and are now on view at the So
cietc Encouragement pour rlndustrie
Rationale, A Rue dc Pennies. Ac-
cording to an ancient Egyptian GUS
tum the countenance Of the deceased
was represented at the head OF tho
mummy or coffin. This custom was
adhered to in the Greco Roman epoch
OF Egypt. but instead OF the plastic
head. which up TO that time had been
alone in use, q painting was substitute
ed representing real portrait OF the
deceased. These portraits. which
were painted ON . thin panel OF wood.
were laid over the face Of the num-
mics, tho outer bandages Of the
shrouds being then wrapped about
them 90 as to cover the mar
gin Of the picture. the latter
alone being visible. A mummy OF
this kind. therefore. presented tho ap-
pearance of living body. looking out
Of an opening in the bandages for the
Survivors to gaze upon in the collins.
the lids of which were made to bo
thrown back for that purpose. The
only other graves where these curious
pictorial works have been found were
opened in the winter Of 1878 by the
English engineer. Mr.. Petrie. at Har-
ward. but the pictures in them are said
to be not nearly equal to the speci-
mems discovered at Kubaitat The
tombs themselves, built In the rocks.
were ransacked ages ago by thieves.
who. In their search for gold. destroyed
both collins and mummieA. Luckily.
the pilferers deemed the pictures to be
of no value, 90 were thrown away
but not to perish-in the dry dust Of
the desert.
Herr Crafts collection numbers nine
ty-6vo specimens OF varying interest
in point of execution. but all valuable
as works OF art They are portraits
on cypress wood. the more ancient be-
ing painted in wax colors. laid ON with
the ccstrum or spatula, q lancet-shaped
instrument-the later specimens being
produced by water colors. to which
was added the yelk and white Of eggs
or other resinous binding substances.
The painting with wax was done with
out the employment Of heat. and with
cut using the brush. the ancients be-
ing ignorant OF the process Of dissolv-
ing wax in turpcntine. On examining
these rows of heads gazing calmly out
Of large. lustroqs eyes. shut now for
over 1900 years. ono seems to be
brought face to face with the last OF hui
manity in . more real way than has
hitherto been in our power Onc is
also struck with the modern look Of
many Of these ancient portraits There
il 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 arc Of great
beauty. and they almost without ex-
ception reveal traces of tho distinction
Of the originals. There Is q very mod
ern head Of an old lady with short gray
locks The fidelity Of execution in
these paintings is 50 great that doctors
have been able to detect the existence
of dropsy. The French Government 10
In treaty for the collection, the value
of which il estimated ut about E4O. 600
-Architaet