An ancient mummy portrait has received a new restoration in Egypt ahead of a rare voyage abroad.

The work, known as the Tondo of the Two Brothers, dates back to the 2nd century and belongs to a group of paintings known as the Fayum portraits. Discovered in the titular city, they were attached to mummies of elite individuals who lived in Egypt during the Roman Period. They were painted on wooden board using the encaustic technique, in which hot wax is mixed with pigment.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo spent three weeks restoring the tondo, working on the project with Italian conservators from the Museo dell’Ara Pacis in Rome. During that time, the restorers managed to recreate some of the features of one of the figures, whose definition had been lost to time because termites had eaten away at the painting.