Left column: HST-NIC2/F160W images of the five ETGs of our high-z sample for which we present the VLT-FORS2 spectra (each image is 6×6 arcsec). Right column: spectra, unsmoothed and not-rebinned, of our five ETGs (black lines, 8 h of effective integration time). Many optical absorption features (blue lines) are clearly distinguishable from the continuum. The best-fit pPXF model is plotted in red. On average, pPXF selects and combines 2−4 star templates to reproduce the observed spectrum. Residuals after best-fit model subtraction are shown with green points. In the residual tracks, blue lines are the regions automatically excluded by the software pPXF as strongly affected by sky emission lines.