Conservation of Mural Paintings in the Coptic Museum

This chapter describes the preservation efforts undertaken by the American Research Center in Egypt on the famous murals, preserved in the Cairo Coptic Museum, which were originally excavated in Apa Jeremiah's Saqqara monastery and Apa Apollo's Bawit monastery. These wall paintings have traditionally been considered the principal symbols of Coptic art. The Saqqara niches were excavated between 1906 and 1910. In keeping with Egyptian tradition, all the paintings are painted on plaster a secco. The Saqqara niches were constructed of mud brick lined with a white lime plaster arricio, often quite coarse and uneven, containing siliceous alluvial sand and some occasional plant fibers. The Bawit niches were excavated in 1913. The two niches were painted on mud with only a thin white lime wash applied for the paintings, rendering them considerably more delicate than the Saqqara niches.