Painting with Beeswax: Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt

Ancient artists from Roman-period Egypt created portraits on wooden panels to be placed on mummified bodies. The main technique used for these portraits was encaustic (wax) painting. These paintings can now be seen in museum collections around the world. In this presentation and conversation, contemporary encaustic artist Francisco Benitez and conservator of paintings Kate Smith will employ their expertise to bring new understanding to these ancient objects and allow us to appreciate the skills of the painters who made them 2,000 years ago.

Francisco Benitez is a professional artist as well as a student, and teacher, of ancient painting techniques. In workshops, he shares his research on using ancient, and modern, tools to paint with beeswax and to experiment with the Greek four-color palette. Kate Smith—with curatorial and analytical science colleagues—has spent nearly a decade studying the materials and techniques used in the production of the ancient Egyptian funerary portraits in the Harvard Art Museums collections.