The anonymous work was discovered in the ruins of Faras Cathedral, an important religious centre of Nubia, in modern Sudan.

[2] The painting is considered one of the most precious images of Nubian officials found in the Cathedral of Faras[2] and is also one of six best preserved portraits of bishops discovered there.

[5] Since the area was to be flooded by the waters of the artificial Lake Nasser, a team of Polish archaeologists led by Kazimierz Michałowski was allowed to recover the artifacts.

A major part was then transported to the National Museum of Sudan, where a team of Polish scientists led by Józef Gazy carried out their conservation [pl].

[6] The dark-skinned bishop is depicted wearing his liturgical robes, complete with a narrow, white handkerchief (encheiron) wound around the index finger of his right palm.

His yellow phelonion (a type of chasuble), in the shape of an elongated ellipse, is adorned with a pattern of a red net, with precious stones sewn into the fabric.