Since 2021, IPAMAA PhD candidate Laurel Fricker has worked with Kelsey Museum conservators on Investigating Color in Roman Egypt, a project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. During this time, she has studied pigments and dyes on artifacts from Karanis—mainly terracotta figurines and textiles—using various analytical techniques, allowing her to reconstruct the colorful world that ancient people created and inhabited.
This research forms the basis of the Kelsey Museum’s newest Kelsey in Focus case, which opened in mid-October. Curated by Laurel, “Through the Lens: Examining Colorful Objects from Karanis” takes a close look at three figurines uncovered from domestic contexts at Karanis: a dog, the god Harpocrates, and the goddess Isis-Aphrodite. The mini-exhibition demonstrates how pigments—often invisible to the naked eye—can be investigated using digital microscopy and multispectral imaging.
“In museums today and on archaeological sites, statues and preserved remains are often presented without any traces of their original polychromy,” Laurel explained. “In this Kelsey in Focus case, I show how colorful the ancient world was and how our modern techniques can bring these pigments into focus.”
“Through the Lens” features not only the three household objects from Karanis but also 3D printed color reconstructions and object photography revealing the surprising ways that ancient pigments were used. To learn more and view this exhibition online, visit myumi.ch/qZ2pE.
