In memory of Krisztián Vértes

With deep sorrow, the Museo Egizio mourns the passing of our colleague Krisztián Vértes, Egyptologist and epigrapher.

A top-notch digital epigrapher, for many years he was a pillar of the Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago, employing cutting-edge technologies to record Egyptian monuments. Over the course of his career, he worked in Abydos, Memphis, and Thebes, and contributed to the documentation of monuments such as the Small Temple of Amun at Medinet Habu, the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak, and the Temple of Luxor.

In 2018, he created the website digitalEPIGRAPHY (digital-epigraphy.com), an educational hub for Egyptologists, artists, illustrators, designers, and all those interested in exploring digital documentation techniques applied to ancient Egyptian monuments.

Until the very end, he kept working tirelessly, showing his latest drawings of the Museo Egizio’s collection to the hospital staff.

The entire Museum stands by his family and will honor his legacy with dedication and gratitude, so that his work may live on forever.

“I want to remember his smile,” says Christian Greco, “his contagious laughter, his enthusiasm. We were fortunate to have as a colleague one of the greatest illustrators of ancient monuments ever. His drawings are his legacy. He had the gift of deeply understanding artistic style and bringing it back to life. Thanks to him, the memory of the ancients will live on. We owe him so much, and we will always remember him with infinite gratitude. When I arrived at Chicago House in 2006, that first evening at dinner, a bit lost and nervous, I sat next to him. Everyone had introduced themselves, but I, overwhelmed, had already forgotten everybody’s names. I asked him to repeat his. He said, ‘Mine you’ll never forget — my name is Krisztian, just like yours.’ He was right about one thing — I will never forget him.”