Art in Focus: David Roberts, The Hypostyle Hall

Join us as we discuss some of the works on view in Hieroglyphs to Hype: The Modern Afterlife of Ancient Egypt in an informal setting, led by Curator of Education and Academic Engagement Michelle DiMarzo!

About the exhibition: This exhibition will explore the enduring fascination with ancient Egyptian art and culture (dubbed “Egyptomania” by 19th-century Europeans) through a selection of paintings, prints, photographs, and decorative art ranging from the early 19th century through the present day. These objects, from the humble to the refined, from the shamelessly commercial to the Afrofuturist, represent the range of artistic responses to – and misconceptions about – ancient Egyptian visual culture.

Paradoxically, this enthusiasm for Egyptian symbols and motifs contributed to the erasure of the ancient Egyptian people themselves, as their beliefs and customs became exoticized in popular memory. The exhibition will examine how these objects reflect the phenomenon of “Egyptomania” over the last two centuries and will position their oversimplified or stereotypical narratives in conversation with current archaeological understandings of ancient Egyptian culture.

Hieroglyphs to Hype: The Modern Afterlife of Ancient Egypt is curated by Megan Paqua (adjunct instructor of ancient Egyptian archaeology and art history and Fairfield University Art Museum Registrar) and will be on view from September 18 - December 12, 2026 in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries.

Sponsored by Michael T. Vigario, ‘08, M & T Bank, Wealthspire Trust, Aquarion Water Company, and the Delamar Southport.

David Roberts, The Hypostyle Hall of the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, Egypt, 1849, oil on panel. Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1981.25.534. Image courtesy of Yale Center for British Art.