Mighty Beauty
The paintings in the Mighty Beauty series study the interiors of the Egyptian pharaohs’ tombs. They were painted with a replica of the so-called Mummy Brown (Rinascimento series), produced until 2020 by the Italian paint manufacturer Maimeri.
Mummy brown is a mixture of pigments obtained by grinding asphaltum, coal pitch (a product formed during the distillation of coal tar) and mineral materials, while historically it was obtained from Egyptian mummies, myrrh, asphaltum and manganese bronze. This unusual pigment, made partly from mummified human remains, was used by artists from at least the 16th to the early 20th century. Painters, especially followers of the historical style, appreciated mummy bronze for its rich, translucent hue.
In 1964, Time magazine noted that the last distributor of authentic mummy bronze, Roberson&Co, had announced its discontinuation as stocks of mummies had run out. The last tubes cost about £3 apiece.