The People Who Were Turned Into Paint

less than 1m read

·Nov 10, 2024

There are four people in this painting. Three of them are made out of paint. The fourth is the paint.

The interior of a kitchen was painted in 1815, and like many paintings from that time, one of the colors used in it was mummy Brown, a pigment literally made from the ground up dried flesh of ancient mummies.

Today, we hollow mummies as fragile time capsules, but in the 1700s, there was a thriving mummy trade between Egypt and Europe. Ground up mummy was believed to have mystic healing powers, and the oil paints that could be made from it were highly valued.

So, mummy Brown was used in countless paintings for hundreds of years. It wasn't until the late 1800s that people began to really question its use. The dwindling supply of mummies didn't help either, and so it began to fall out of fashion.

The people who were turned into paint didn't ask to be. What they wanted was immortality, and they may have got what they wanted, but they also got an afterlife they didn't expect. Not one for their personal souls, but one for the anonymous beauty of the rotten, tari darkness.

Anyone can become… [Music]

YC Tech Talks: Machine Learning

Buddhist Wisdom For Inner Peace

View All

Estimating multi-digit division word problems | Grade 5 (TX TEKS) | Khan Academy

We’re told a dog food company produced 4,813 dog biscuits. The company will put the dog biscuits into bags, each containing 40 biscuits. About how many bags will the company be able to fill? So pause the video and think about it, and remember you don’t ha…

4 Examples Of Shadow Behavior | Q&A #6 | August 2019

Hello everyone. August is almost over. So, it’s time for another Q&A, which is number six already. In this public Q&A, I’ll talk about the shadow, because my recent video about this topic got a lot of questions and feedback. I think that’s a great…

Elliot Choy asks Ray Dalio about his early goals

Was was that first step for you? Do you recall kind of some of your early goals? Was it simply to find some level of success, some level of security? Do you remember what those first steps were for you? Well, it was, um, it was more a passion, you know? …

Cave Art 101 | National Geographic

[Narrator] Wooly mammoths, step bison, and other large mammals once roamed alongside people across Eurasia. Tens of thousands of years later, we may have a glimpse into this Ice Age world through the cave art left behind by early humans. (tinkling music) …

One of the BEST way to save on taxes: What is a 401k

What’s up you guys, it’s Graham here. So, due to popular demand from a video I made about a week ago about why you should open up a Roth IRA, I’m going to make this video to share with you guys one of the best ways to reduce your taxable income and one of…

This Intimate Look at a Woman's Last Days Will Touch Your Soul | National Geographic

I’m not afraid of dying. Sometimes I think dying is a relief. I would rather pass on than to not be able to have any good times. The thing I miss the most is not being able to see the cards and play cards. I miss going to bridge. Can’t eat much at times. …

The People Who Were Turned Into Paint

More Articles