An extinct and previously-unknown species of goose has been identified within a 4,600-year-old painting that has been dubbed the ‘Mona Lisa of Ancient Egypt’.
University of Queensland expert Anthony Romilio’s fresh analysis of the artwork determined that the bird with its distinct bold colours and patterns was unique. Romilio believes that the speckled goose shown in the Egypt’s Mona Lisa is the only found documentation of an extinct species of Goose. The researcher noticed that the animals somewhat resembled modern red-breasted geese but they are not the same. Bearing unique patterns over many parts of its body, the bird pictured doesn’t look anything like modern red-breasted geese, Romilio observed.
The painting, Medium goose, was found in the 1800s in the Chapel of Itet at Meidum. Itet was the wife of the vizier Nefermaat, who ruled Egypt from 2610 to 2590 B.C.
Romilio used a technique called Tobias method to investigate the origin of the goose pictured in the painting. This process includes comparing the body of the bird painted to a real life bird measurements. The results showed that the two species shown in the artwork corresponded to greylag geese and greater white-fronted geese. But the two smaller geese with different pattern son their body didn’t have any real world match.
“From a zoological perspective, the Egyptian artwork is the only documentation of this distinctively patterned goose, which appears now to be globally extinct,” said Romilio.
The extinct species had red, black and white markings on its face, grey wings with white marks and a speckled red breast distinct from modern red-breasted geese. Two other species of the waterfowl are shown in the painting — those of greater white-fronted- and either bean- or greylag- geese.
The birds are portrayed in two trios, representing many of the birds. Patterns of threes in ancient Egyptian iconography represented the plural.
Other paintings found in the chapel feature detailed depictions of dogs, cows, leopards, and white antelopes. Looters stole much of the artwork from the tomb, but Italian Egyptologist Luigi Vassalli’s removal of the goose fresco during the late 19th century ensured its preservation.