Art has changed a great deal since it began many centuries ago. Centuries,
however, are not necessary to notice the small changes that are evident even
between cultures of similar times. Such is the case with the Greeks and Romans.
Both cultures had exquisite pieces of art, but they were very different from
each other.
The amazing thing about art is that no matter how many differences exist, it
is still beautiful in its own sense. There are also a number of similarities
that are evident with these two cultures as well, but the point that will be
focused on is the differences that are found between Greek and Roman art. The
pieces that will be focused on from the Greeks are Black-Figured Psykter and
Red-Figured Kylix Depicting a Young Athelete, and from the Romans are Mummy
Portrait of a Man and Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman.
The Roman Portraits are located at The Menil Collection in Houston. The Mummy
Portrait of a Man is from the Fayum region in Egypt. It was painted about
150-200 B.C. It is painted in encaustic on wood, and is a Fayum portrait. The
Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman is also from the Fayum region and painted in
encaustic on wood. This portrait was painted about 150-200 B.C. The term Fayum
portrait is actually derived from a Coptic word meaning “ The land of the lake,”
which refers to the artificial Lake Qarun.
This lake was a project of the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, and it was this
lake that made a desert area of about 100 kilometers into one of the most
fertile areas in Egypt. It was such an amazing feat that the lake still to this
day provides this region water keeping it fertile. The purpose of the Mummy
Portrait of a Man as well as the Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman was to identify
the mummy. These portraits were paintings of the person that they identified.
The edges of the paintings have paint missing, due to the fact that these
portraits were placed over the face of the mummies. The fact that both the
artists of these portraits are unknown is due to gravediggers and collectors.
When a mummy was found, the main objective was to find out more about the mummy
itself, and many times the paintings were disregarded and considered to be of no
value.
The technique used with Fayum paintings is called encaustic. This style of
painting involves combining the paint with hot wax in order to obtain more
resilient colors and also to be able to contrast light and dark better. The only
problem with this style of painting is that the wax would get cold and dry up in
a short period of time. The artists had to work quickly in order to keep the
pigment wax mix wet and able to spread across the canvas or wood.
In order to work faster, the painters used wide brush strokes not paying a
great deal of attention to the fine lines and details. One major advantage of
using the hot wax with the pigment is that the artist was able to capture a dark
or thick appearance as well as a light appearance to the wood while keeping the
paint smooth and silky looking. Because of the rushed way in which the portraits
were painted allows for similarities between the two. The Portrait of a Man is
at a slight angle as compared to the Portrait of a Young Woman, but looking
beyond this fact and looking at close detail, it is easy to see the similarities
between the ears of the man and woman in each painting.
The eyes on both of the paintings are very similar as well. Both the man and
the woman have their eyes deep set in their head, and appear to be staring out
into space. Yet another similarity between the two is the eyebrows. Both the man
and the woman are depicted as having thick eyebrows as well as a small mouth.
