Papyrus Papyrus painting, Egypt

The National Museum of Egypt is located in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. It is the most famous and largest collection museum of ancient Egyptian cultural relics in the world. The design of the entrance of the museum incorporates the characteristics of ancient Egyptian art: directly above it is the head of the God of the Sky (Hathor), and there are two reliefs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs in the arches on both sides outside the gate, one holding papyrus and the other holding lotus, which respectively symbolize the two kingdoms of ancient Egypt-Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, and are also the national grass and flower of Egypt today. Papyrus is the raw material of the famous Egyptian Papyrus painting. In fact, Egyptian paper was invented thousands of years before China. At that time, paper was made of papyrus.

Papyrus painting must travel to Egypt. Greeks, Romans and Arabs wrote on papyrus. The pigment of papyrus painting is taken from pure natural plant juice and mixed with mineral powder, which has metallic luster and does not fade for a long time.

In Egypt, the important content of Papyrus painting is the description of Egyptian mythology and important events in history. One of the most common themes is Isis, the goddess of life and health in Egyptian mythology. In the picture, she has a pair of huge wings and appears as a loyal wife, trying her best to help her husband Osiris manage the country. Later, Osiris was murdered by his brother, and his body was chopped into fourteen pieces and thrown into the Nile, scattered all over the country. Isis was heartbroken and pursued along the river, successfully recovering all 14 bodies and bringing Osiris back to life. The worship of the goddess Isis reached its peak in Greek and Roman times.

Papyrus painting, whom I finally chose, is a copy of The Goose in Medum. Goose in Medum is a work of the early fourth dynasty in ancient Egypt, which was found in the tomb of Queen Navre Maa in Medum. At that time, artists made colorful murals on a plaster-coated wall, with a height of 27.5cm and a width of173cm. In this picture, there are six geese strolling among the flowers and plants by the water. The geese are about the same size as the real thing, symmetrically arranged left and right, with three on the left and three on the right. The first one on both sides bowed their heads and pecked, and the others stood forward. This "two plus one" rhythm combination is very common in Egyptian art organization.

The original of Medum's goose is displayed in the National Museum of Egypt, which has a history of 4,500 years.

The painter told me how to recognize the hand-painted Papyrus painting: Dip your finger in some saliva and click it in the place with heavy color. If the color is stained, it is true, because the printed Papyrus painting contains gum, which is not easy to fade. In addition, the high-quality Papyrus painting has the author's autograph.

If you go to Egypt to buy Papyrus painting, you must go to a special store and carefully observe the quality. The texture of the real Egyptian Papyrus painting can be seen with the naked eye. For example, I bought Goose in Medum, just like ramie. (Xie Fang)