Restoration of the painting “The Two Brothers”... a masterpiece from Roman Egypt preparing for an exhibition in Italy

- Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathi announced during a press conference the completion of the restoration of the painting “The Two Brothers,” which is considered one of the most prominent masterpieces of portraiture in Egypt during the Roman era, according to a statement published by the ministry’s official page on Facebook on Sunday. The painting underwent a restoration process in preparation for its first display at a temporary antiquities exhibition in Italy.

This painting is scheduled to travel from Egypt for the first time to be displayed in a temporary exhibition at the “Ara Pacis” Museum in the Italian capital, Rome, as part of the “The Power of Portrait...Egypt and Rome: Faces of Fayoum” exhibition, which will be held during the period from November 5, 2026 to May 2, 2027.

The exhibition will witness for the first time the display of a group of Fayoum portrait paintings from the collections of the Egyptian Antiquities Museums, which includes selected pieces from several museums, topped by the painting “The Two Brothers” as one of the most prominent participating Egyptian pieces. These works, also known as the Fayum Mummy Paintings, are among the most notable surviving examples of portraiture from the ancient world.

Most of them were painted on thin wooden panels, and were placed above the face of the deceased among the mummy wrappers, embodying the interaction between Egyptian funerary traditions and Greek and Roman artistic influences. An important painting: The “The Two Brothers” painting is a circular wooden painting with a diameter of about 62 centimeters, and a thickness that does not exceed one centimeter. It was painted using the “encaustic” technique, which relies on mixing pigments with molten wax, and depicts two young men side by side.

The painting is distinguished by its unusual circular shape and large size, as well as the depiction of two people together in one work of art, which makes it an exceptional example among well-known Fayoum portraits, according to the statement. A restoration process that took three weeks. Restoring the painting required very precise intervention due to the fragility of both the wooden stand and the color layer. Cooperation between restorers at the Egyptian Museum and their Italian counterparts provided an important opportunity to exchange scientific and professional experiences.

The restoration work was also carried out according to a minimal intervention approach, while preserving the originality of the piece, which contributed to restoring the visual cohesion of the painting, while at the same time preserving the evidence documenting its history and condition throughout the ages. The restoration program continued for three weeks, according to the Director General of the Egyptian Museum, Ali Abdel Halim, who explained that the painting was suffering from poor preservation as a result of an old infestation with wood-eating insects, in addition to some parts of the color layer being fragile.

It was also revealed that there were previous reconstructive interventions that led to the reinstallation of some parts of the mouth and chin of the person depicted on the right of the painting in incorrect positions.