The Ara Pacis in Rome is preparing to host one of the most anticipated classical art exhibitions in years: a stunning showcase of over 110 works spanning wooden panels, shrouds, funeral masks, and ancient jewelry dedicated to the mesmerizing art of the Fayum portraits.

Considered among the rarest painted images of antiquity, fewer than a thousand of these delicate wooden panels survive worldwide. Painted using tempera or encaustic wax directly onto the deceased's mummy wrappings, these masterpieces are rarely lent out due to their fragility. In an unprecedented agreement, Egypt has authorized the temporary export of nearly its entire domestic collection of these panels, including the famous Tondo of the Two Brothers, recently restored by Italian specialists in Egypt.

This core collection is joined by 23 pieces from the Louvre, alongside exceptional loans from the Getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Landesmuseum Württemberg. The exhibition journey concludes with a recently discovered youth portrait unearthed by an Italian archaeological mission from the University of Salento, making its worldwide public debut.