The Fayum Portraits: Funerary Painting of Roman Egypt, 1988 | From the Vaults

[@heidigouge9737]

So beautiful. The impasto of the wax and vibrant pigments seem to give life to the silent portraits of our ancestors. What a gift to see them!

[@catherinepoloynis]

This was eerily beautiful and particularly insightful and moving, in that these people died in a place not of their origin. These portraits have such an impact today, and this film you've created to show them is an equally moving artistic interpretation. Thank you.

[@ХазметАйдахунов-е2ж]

Они родились! И умерли в римском или элленистическом Египте который и был им Родиной

[@paulhomsy2751]

@@ХазметАйдахунов-е2ж Exactly !!

[@sneeringimperialist6667]

They had some really brilliant portrait artists back in the day!

[@robertokandal]

pictures of people rela people from PAST. amazing

[@robertokandal]

caucasian art and civilization

[@ericastier1646]

Also the people's face looked noble whereas now rich people have thugs faces.

[@MossyMozart]

@@robertokandal - Egypt is nowhere near the Caucus Mountains.

[@mrbutch308]

Wonderful video. The portraits are haunting.

[@Daphattack]

I just found out about these. They are amazing! How vivid and well preserved.

[@NewPSCity]

It's like time traveling into the past. Amazing 😮

[@Pet.Wifey.Voice.Of.Reason]

Thank you so much for posting this! I have loved Fayums for so long, and suddenly, there is interest them. I thank you again!

[@palmamingozzi5736]

This is wonderful, paintings are amazing and the poetry divine.

[@iLmentor]

I'm Egyptian. Me and everyone I grew up knowing in Egypt look exactly like all these faces.

[@HoundTor]

I have to say the likeness is striking. Unlike what the HOTEPS say you guys haven’t changed!

[@The_Truth-]

So basically you look like the foreigners did back then.

[@eingoluq]

😂😂😂 imagine we look at white Americans back in the 1700s and claim they were the native Americans. The Egyptians from the south keep saying those in the north are not original Egyptians. They were the invaders.

[@Kemet3.0]

@@The_Truth- Correct, did he even read the title? Roman Egyptians were invaders; they had nothing to do with the pyramids or temples. They merely occupied the country and attempted to claim its history. Are you people really that deluded? The ancient Kemetic people are separated by 4000 years from both those invaders and modern Egyptians.

[@_hypergamy7090]

AHHHHH INCREDIBLE!! fayums are so beautiful!!! this has really made my day!

[@KemetEG]

Look like modern Egyptians

[@khould8878]

No doubt

[@boss347tkt]

north africans phenotype

[@donaxtrunculus5023]

Indeed, but you can see some are clearly greek or roman

[@matteo7853]

They look different. Some of them look like ancient Greeks and Roamans, others, like Egyptians.

[@ahmadradwan5914]

@@matteo7853 no , asiatic whute races always been in egypt even b4 gerko roman era

[@jeanross7430]

Strangely beautiful works of art.

[@ericastier1646]

No, it's not just the art that is beautiful, the expression in these people's face shows something about their society and culture and it was superior to the leader faces we see today.

[@MossyMozart]

The portraits also show how beloved the persons were in life, it seems to me.

[@roadnottaken2780]

Wow. Most of the portraits look incredibly modern.

[@ericastier1646]

and any of these portraits is better than any detritus made by the likes of picasso.

[@zakmitchell1935]

Yeah because they are FAKES!

[@sherylcrowe3255]

Absolutely wonderful. Thank you

[@Coolhandkelpy]

It’s so fascinating, the melding of Roman artistry with Egyptian funerary practice... It’s emblematic of Rome’s cultural policy of absorbing and adapting the cultures of those they overtook.

[@ahmadradwan5914]

The opposite is true ,

[@tsukun16]

@@Michael20545 Hellenistic artistry, not Greek

[@ahmadradwan5914]

Romans had no culture , no art ... culture and art are egypto_greek

[@bojangles2492]

Ahmad your statement is ridiculous, the Roman civilisation spanned 1000 years.

[@blastofo]

We see those mummies and think of horror movies. It's easy to forget they were people like in these paintings.

[@r.g.36]

This is like a treasure chest to me 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍🙏💜😱😱😱😱😱😱Thank you The Met, I'd like to know if you will keep this videos on this channel? I hope you keep them on this channel, they are very interesting, educational and insightful since people who live outside of America get to see and learn this and 'virtually/visually' can 'visit' this museum. 💜💜💜🙏

[@JoeyArmstrong2800]

Fascinating. Many people commenting on how young they look. Well back then people only lived to be like 40 so it's all relative.

[@luizlivro5911]

Muitos retratos também são idealizados, para parecerem mais jovens

[@rayamariam692]

They look like Ancient Egyptians. Nice paintings.

[@marioma812]

@@alif4142 No they were Egyptians

[@gracegg5485]

@@marioma812 nope😂😭 they are in fact Greek and Romans who lived in Egypt. Nice try tho.

[@dareal05]

@@gracegg5485 They were overwhelmingly "upper class" native Lower Egyptians at that time.

[@gracegg5485]

@@dareal05 they were the settlers yes , they were egyptians by nationality but by ethnicty they were from the upper class and rulking elites ie the greek dynasties and roman rullers

[@ahmadradwan5914]

Go to italy and go to fayoum , u will recignize that these faces are pure egyptian with no effort

[@joellenjohnson4038]

BEAUTIFUL

[@sophiegoarin2903]

they're so alive 🎨👍

[@SpottedBullet]

FYI It's called Encaustic painting. Basically hot wax and pigment. Some were painted in Tempera though.

[@totw7790]

Great film, Thank you. ❤👍

[@andreasimon9244]

@@totw7790 thank you, it was wonderful making it all those years ago ...

[@aquastar4336]

What absolutely beautiful style. Wish I could get someone to paint me in this way!!!

[@TheMeloettaful]

That would actually be awesome to get a coffin portrait done lol 😁!

[@thomasofarabia]

Haunting. Thank you.

[@thg_mockingjay2842]

The 8 year old boy has always been my favorite

[@sagittariusman9307]

*Chris Hansen enters chat...*

[@irishincyprus]

That was amazing. Thank you. Such beautiful artistry💚 14:15

[@shadowraith1]

Interesting presentation. From my perspective? Vaguely creepy. Kind of like placing a picture permanently on a gravestone.👍👀👀👀👍

[@Mjao519]

In a world without other possible ways to memorize, it's intriguing. The visual memory is very short.

[@Daphattack]

There are in fact many gravestones just like that with a visual representation of the departed.

[@schatzip]

Timely. Thank you.

[@ЛюдмилаВолынкина-ф2к]

Красота,которая сейчас,не встречается! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@sidilicious11]

Nicely Painted portraits, all with over sized eyes.

[@خالدالملاح-د7ب]

Do u think that there eyes were really wide or they just used to painting it in such way

[@p.g.3419]

Was it possible that in reality they were all so incredibly beautiful? It is very probable that they may have died at a young age, but a whole people of extraordinary beauty?

[@aquastar4336]

I realize there wasn't alot of inter-breeding between the Romans and native Egyptians... but some of these ppl display features of a mixed background.

[@Trixtah]

A lot of them are descended from Ptolemaic Greek colonists, not so much the Romans who were the later colonists occupying Egypt at the time these were created.

[@Trixtah]

Highly recommend muting, enabling CC and playing back at 1.25x. Or if you like "art music", you might enjoy listening. Also, if you want to know how or why these beautiful portraits were produced, this is not the video for you.

[@davidcaldecoat7414]

Beautiful paintings

[@asilva781]

Beautiful

[@ThomasMehiar]

Wondefull! Thank You!

[@numismatic]

Most of them look young and rich, but I wonder why they died early.

[@Cawendaw]

Probably a lot of them didn't, the documentary says the portraits hung in their homes for many years before their owners died.

[@Mjao519]

Maybe they got them painted while they where young and beautiful. But many women died of childbirth.

[@ericastier1646]

@@Mjao519 Definitely painted decades before they passed, some of the women look absolutely georgeous and i couldn't think they would have looked better at an older age.

[@daemonology306]

I saw one of these in the Nelson-Atkins museum

[@KJensenStudio]

These are all beautiful, but some are spectacular! I never thought this level of realism in portrature existed this early on. I have to be concerned though: what happened to their bodies? It's great to see these, but disturbing to see them sepeated from their owners.

[@KJensenStudio]

'separated' oops!

[@umbrellashotgunman]

While some portraits were indeed recovered alongside the original mummies, many were stripped off their subjects by local grave robbers looking for a quick buck by raiding newly discovered dig sites and selling them to local merchants. It also didn’t help that archeological standards were a lot lower at the time most of the portraits were discovered.

[@egytourina]

Some of these portraits found separately without their mummies

[@adafessler8147]

Does anyone know the name of the tracks by Meredith Monk in this video? (Beautiful documentary btw - thank you)

[@bobrosen3516]

The music score was composed by Meredith just for this film. The individual tracks have no name.

[@mortalclown3812]

Reminds me of Japanese death poetry ~ yet more in the collective. Keane portraiture glows in these eyes. Here's to the return cycles.

[@ahmedgharieb5252]

Those look like modern Egyptians so much.. Does that means modern Egyptians is from Rome!!!

[@cawl8122]

Egypt has been one of the centres of the world for much of antiquity and so has lots of groups come and mix into the native egyptian population so in a sense they are roman and egyptian and greek and arab

[@xiuhcoatl4830]

Because these are from roman Egypt, not Rome

[@alihassan-hl4kg]

I know people looking the same in egypt

[@sarahesham1482]

So sad how they were so young when they died 💔

[@petebondurant58]

Some of the portraits are aged up, so to speak. One of the mummies had a portrait of a full grown woman painted upon it, but when the skeleton was examined, it was of a four years old girl.

[@HoundTor]

@@petebondurant58 Ow, even sadder.

[@ericastier1646]

No, you don't know if they died at the age of the portrait. Most likely not. The portrait is probably how they looked at their prime.

[@88jjmayp]

great channels, I wish the likes weren't disabled . Im sure all the ratio would be more than favorable for most of these vids

[@nothing-b2n]

This is interesting

[@williambo5989]

the artist had to work very quickly and this perhaps accounts to their extraordinary freshness

[@ericastier1646]

another false guess. These portraits were painted during the life of the deceased at their prime or so, not after they died.

[@williambo5989]

@@ericastier1646 no they were done after I am professional

[@FsimulatorX]

Where are the readings from?

[@WarandFlame]

Are these stories real?

[@Neftegna]

These are the portraits of Romans living in Egypt.

[@egytourina]

Roman and Greeks with greek names inscribed on the portait with Egyotian way and materials.. Actually it's mix between 3 civilization

[@ahmadfathy7994]

They was most Egyptian

[@MCfact1827]

@@ahmadfathy7994 @6:50....he tells you who they are and where they came from. Greece He tells you they were colonials.

[@Lulzsec8]

Desde quando italianos tem essas feições?

[@blumenthol]

Nice .... but where are all the Africans Hollywood says were there in numbers? To include Cleopatra herself.

[@joe8256]

Why are they all young 🤔?

[@OmegaSpideyTheLast]

The human life span in ancient rome 2000 years ago was between 30-40 years. This is why they look young in the portraits

[@carlossalazar1349]

increíble sorprendente

[@alanveiga452]

Wait? They didn't look like subsaharan Africans? I thought we was kings

[@dmc133]

Everyone looked young , no gray hair.

[@patriciadow6138]

12.20. Lee van celeb! Wow

[@sagittariusman9307]

8:24 Young Sylvester Stallone...

[@theforgottenbrawlers]

Haha

[@blokblok2009]

Huh, Roman Egypt 🇪🇬

[@robertorup9680]

👍💥

[@katdee239]

How do you get to talk to an egyptogist? I have many questions on the textiles and symbolism.

[@rsabinioan]

7:12 absolute chad

[@atenmohammed]

Proud to look like my ancestors 😁

[@sublimnl1]

So you're a fkin roman then Achmed?

[@DoofusMeme]

So people in the past has over large eyes

[@pageribe2399]

Eyes were so important - they were prominently featured - sometimes to the point of exaggeration - in the portraiture of many cultures.

[@tiger-rgn]

but but, I THOUGHT WE WUZ KANGZ MANE????

[@thecraplordsell4575]

Well they certainly aren’t white. They look very Semitic. Why can’t the movies get it right.

[@oranebrown2169]

They were never egyptian. And could never be, colonizer.

[@itsyeboy7094]

hahaha ur jealous of our history

[@MCfact1827]

They don't look like king Menes

[@egytourina]

Some have Egyptian features .

[@MCfact1827]

@@egytourina look up Menes.

[@ahmadfathy7994]

@@MCfact1827 menes don't have any statue

[@AlekseyMaksimovichPeshkov]

So it’s official: square jawlines didn’t exist back then and all the men looked like their women 😂?

[@ericastier1646]

shows your limited Geography and history knowledge.

[@1TruGODreality]

Yea Roman ruled Egypt

[@remigofflo179]

1988 EGYPTE ALEXANDRIE ROME JULES REMI GOFFLO CÉSAR ROMAIN

[@remigofflo179]

1988 EGYPTE ALEXANDRIE CLEOPATRE VII ROME JULES REMI GOFFLO CÉSAR ROMAIN

[@jenniferbond5771]

Italians!!

[@РусланМитиненко-х9и]

Это придки ромов

[@metallitech]

Narrated by a mummy?

[@frankmill2.07]

7:29 Barack Obama's great great great great... Grandfather

[@soso-ry5if]

Not at all. Barack Obama ancestors look like kenyans

[@Socsom]

Obama’s mother was white.

[@blokblok2009]

Lol

[@gracegg5485]

@@soso-ry5if and those aren't even egyptians they're romans and greeks.

[@soso-ry5if]

@@gracegg5485 they are Egyptians and they look Egyptians

[@powahwave8915]

What's with the useless creepy noises

[@zakmitchell1935]

Unfortunately these have been found to be fakes and they don't even match the mummies they were found with but keep on being delusional.

[@katerinapatiniotis5598]

They're real and carbon dated. You're the one who's been delusional.