Encaustic Paint and Antiquity

Last Friday, November 20th, I gave a presentation with Mike Lesczinski (co-owner of Enkaustikos Paint) to a packed room of New York State art teachers at their annual convention. The topic of the talk was Interdisciplinary Studies and Encaustic Paint. I have a love of the ancient world, so this topic was right up my alley. I thought I would share a few highlights from the presentation that might interest those that like history and life in ancient times.

Let's start with Paint. Paint was important in the ancient world, especially Greeks. They painted everything – bright colors too! It's believed that the Greeks invented encaustic paint, many thousands of years ago. It is a simple formula that combines bee's wax, tree sap, and various pigments. The Greeks were known to use encaustics on their boats, temples, and statuary. One of the earliest references of the use of encaustic paint can be found in the writings of Homer. He describes Ulysses' warships as being painted red. If you were going the paint the hull of a ship - selecting a waterproof paint might be a smart choice. The alternative paint of the age was tempera – not so good immersed in water. Red pigment was available in the form of Minium (lead tetoxide) and Hematite (iron oxide). The Greeks probably when with the lead pigment since it wouldn't break down in sea water like iron oxide.

Red Pigment: Minium or Lead Tetoxide, mined in Spain 

near the Minius River, its Roman namesake.

To create color, artists have been using natural pigments since 40,000 BC. The first synthetic color was invented in 1725. Attempting to make red, they created Prussian Blue. A wonderful color that is also a medicine. It is still used today and has properties no other color possesses. However, if you paint with acrylics or water colors you are out of luck – Prussian Blue is not water soluble. By the way, Enkaustikos makes a very high quality encaustic Prussian Blue.

The Greeks painted (polychome) all marble statues using encaustic paint. Which had the added benefit that it could be polished after it was applied. Below is a krater (greek vase) illustrating encaustic paint being applied to a marble statue. Note the assistant heating the applicators in hot coals. Most ancient marble statues were painted and only a very few show any evidence of being colored.

I think many of us would prefer the aged

condition of marble statues (sans paint). 

Can you image Michelangelo painting David?

The most noteworthy example of encaustic painting came with the discovery of the Fayum Mummies. In 1887, British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie discovered the first group of mummies in a necropolis south of Alexandra, Egypt (about 100 were found, today they number to nearly 1000). The mummies dated back to the late 1st century BC to 3rd century AD and include a cross section of people living in ancient Roman times. What's remarkable is that the traditional gold idealized masks that were common for thousands of years were replaced with highly realistic portraits of the dead. The ideal became the real! These highly detailed portraits were painted on wood panels using encaustic paint. The paint is so well preserved that the portraits look like they were just completed. 

The mummies are a wonderful example of the fusion

of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures. 

Quick history review: The Egyptian civilization dates back to 3,150 BC. In 332 BC, Alexander conquered Egypt (more like they surrendered) and upon his death, his general Ptolomy, took over as Pharoah. The Greeks then ruled for 300 years! Remember, Cleopatra was Greek and the last Ptolomy to rule Egypt. The Romans conquered Egypt by defeating Anthony in the battle of Actium in 30BC. 

So most of the Fayum mummies were of people living during the first 300 years of Roman occupied Egypt. Here's are just few pictures of what they looked like, the clothes they wore, how they styled their hair, and the jewelry with which they adorned themselves.

I've studied many of these portraits and I have noticed a common style or format to them. Most portraits are facing forward in an upright position with the head slightly turned creating a slight shadow, which defines the nose and creates volume. What is most fascinating is the eyes are rendered with a portion of the white of the eye showing under the pupil. And, sometimes the eyes are slightly larger than they should be. This gives the portrait a mysterious feel.  This dramatic depiction of the eyes has the illusion of the dead staring at the viewer. It is an arresting effect. A "knowing" look that makes you feel as if they were about to reveal their inmost thoughts or you caught them in a moment of contemplation.

Well as usual, I probably went on for too long. There are a lot of Fayum mummies to explore on-line. However, they are exhibited in many museums around the world including the Metropolitan and Brooklyn museums in NYC. They are amazing in person!

One more thing. Encaustic painting was highly prized in the ancient world. In fact, Julius Caesar purchased an encaustic painting from the artist Timomakos, probably to adorn a temple. And, he paid handsomely for it - 80 Talents! That's $3,100,000 in 2009 dollars.