From time to time throughout history, certain
civilizations have developed modes of portraiture
that capture not just the accurate image of a
people, but also the very spirit of an age. Such is
the case with the painted mummy portraits of
the Egyptian Fayum, with the sculpted busts of
the roman republic, and with the terracotta
portrait vessels of the Moche. Powerful yet
revealing, naturalistic and idealized all at the
same time, these clay heads show a proud,
aristocratic people, masters of the world around
them. To look upon such an image is to
understand not only the appearance of this man,
but his soul as well.
- (K.013)
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