Mummy portrait of an elderly lady with a gold wreath

            Slightly turned shoulders and heads, naturalistic coloring, directional lighting, and use of shading and highlights to indicate volume are all elements of the Hellenistic naturalistic and illusionistic painting style. The paintings in this series (09.181.1-.8) were executed using the encaustic technique-pigment in a wax medium, which produces rich color with depth, rather like that in oil painting.

Individual and family characteristics often seem to be incorporated in the panels, indicating that actual verisimilitude was desirable. They do not seem, however, to have been painted during life to hang in the home. Studies comparing the ages of mummies with their portrait panels indicate that most portraits were painted at or near death. It is possible that they were made to be carried in the procession (ekphora) of the deceased through a town or village, a Greek rite after which the body was taken to the embalmers for mummification, and the portrait panel was cut to fit in the mummy wrappings.

As in other painted panel portraits depicting older women, this one shows the subject with earrings as her only ornament. Her gray hair falls in loose curls that are quite unrelated to imperial court fashion. Her face is strong, bony, and tanned. The strongly reddish colored tunic, typical for female portraits of the late first to early second century, and the similarity to male portraits of the Trajanic period, suggest a dating to that time. 

Romano-Egyptian, 100-125 CE (Hawara?, Egypt). Encaustic (pigmented wax) on limewood.

Met Museum, New York (09.181.5)

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Taken on: October 28, 2024

Tags:

ancient

archaeology

portrait

encaustic

funerary

mummy portrait

Trajanic

elderly

gold wreath

wreath

ekphora

Romano-Egyptian

Greco-Egyptian

limewood

Met Museum

Metropolitan

Museum

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Sets appears in: • Romano-Egyptian ‘Fayum’ Mummy Portraits • Egyptian antiquities more » • Met Museum « less

Groups appears in: • Museum • Roman Empire more » • The Ancient World • Arqueologia - Archaeology • Classical Antiquity: Art & Architecture • World Archaeology & Arts/ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΑ&ΤΕΧΝΕΣ-Rea • Egyptian Art & Sculpture in Museums • Museums of the World • Ancient Egyptian Art • World Archaeology • Ancient Greek and Roman Art • The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York • The Classical World • Ancient Paint - Pittura Antica • I love museums • Ancient Egyptian Sarcophagi and Mummy Masks • The Museum Project • Ancient / Archaeological • Canon EOS R7 User Group • Ancient Polychromy « less

Camera: Canon EOS R7, f/4.0, 1/10 sec, 24mm, ISO 6400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS R7
Lens:	RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.1 sec (1/10)
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	6400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Lightroom 8.0 (Macintosh)
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