This book presents recent research on ancient Silk Road wall paintings, providing an up-to-date analysis of their coloring materials and techniques, and of developments in efforts to preserve them. The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 encouraged international collaboration between conservation research institutes to study and protect the Silk Road’s painted heritage. The collaborations led to exciting new discoveries of the rich materials used in wall painting, including diverse pigments and colorants, and various types of organic binding media. In addition, comparative research across the region revealed shared painting practices that indicate the sophisticated exchange of technologies and ideas. In parallel with these advances in technical understanding, greater awareness and sensitivity has been fostered in endeavors to preserve this fragile heritage. The book offers insights obtained from conservation projects and ongoing research, that encompass the geographical regions and periods related to the Silk Road, including from Japan, China, Korea, India and Afghanistan, and countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region. It also discusses the current issues and future challenges in the field. Featuring concise chapters, the book is a valuable resource for students and professionals in the field of cultural heritage preservation, as well as those who are not familiar with the fascinating topic of Silk Road wall painting research.

The final report on the conservation of the wall paintings in the tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of Queens, Egypt. This highly successful collaborative venture launched by the Getty Conservation Institute and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization brought together scientists and conservators from all over the world to address the problems facing one of the most beautiful monuments of antiquity. The painstaking process that saved this cultural treasure in situ is documented in the text written by those who were most intimately involved in its rescue. Paolo and Laura Mora worked with and trained the team of conservators who carried out the consolidation and cleaning of the paintings. An international group of scientists carried out the analysis that was essential to the conservation process. Others contribute articles on the archaeology of the Valley, the iconography of the tomb, the original techniques and materials used by the artists, photographic documentation of the wall paintings, and literary sources for their study.

The 11 painting fragments from the tomb-chapel of Nebamun that were brought to the British Museum in the early 19th century have long been recognized as some of the finest examples of ancient Egyptian art. This book places the paintings in their historical context and provides an account of the work done to preserve them.

The book reproduces the cleaned paintings for the first time. It also describes and analyzes their amalgam of Coptic (Egyptian Christian), Byzantine, and Arab styles and motifs as well as the religious culture to which they belong. In 1996, funded by the United States Agency for International Development and at the request of the Monastery of St. Antony, the Antiquities Development Project of the American Research Center in Egypt began the conservation of the paintings in the church. The paintings revealed by the conservators are of extremely high quality, both stylistically and conceptually. While rooted in the Christian tradition of Egypt, they also reveal explicit connections with Byzantine and Islamic art of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Some newly discovered paintings can even be dated back to the sixth or seventh century.

The most lavishly decorated tomb in ancient Egypt was constructed for Queen Nefertari, wife of Rameses the Great. The Getty Conservation Institute has been instrumental in the effort to restore the tomb’s magnificent wall paintings, and in the fall of 1992, to mark the project’s completion, an exhibition was held at the Getty Museum. The exhibition included a model of the tomb and full-scale reproductions of the wall paintings. The publication describes the conservation work (including before and after photographs), outlines the life of Nefertari, and places the tomb in the context of Egyptian art history.