Mummy portrait of a man wearing a gilded ivy wreath
This portrait belongs to a large group of similar works known as “Fayum portraits,” so-named for the region in northern Egypt in which many have been discovered. To create this man’s likeness, the artist painted a thin piece of wood with encaustic, or pigmented wax, a medium that not only gave the impression of three-dimensionality but also resisted fading and deterioration in the dry climate of Egypt. These highly individualized and lifelike portraits conveyed the wealth and status of the person depicted through clothing, jewelry, and other embellishments, such as the gold wreath of ivy worn by this man.
Unlike the classical mummies that usually come to mind in a hard coffin of wood or cartonnage (layers of linen or papyrus glued together and often coated with stucco), Roman mummies were wrapped in cloth, sometimes in a linen shroud but more often in strips of linen arranged in intricate patterns. This specific mummification practice was concentrated primarily in and around the Fayum Basin (the region that gives the associated portraits their name) and dates to between the 1st and 3rd century CE. About 900 of these portraits are known, and all but a tiny fraction of them have been removed from their mummies.
The deceased were descendants of the Ptolemaic Greeks who controlled Egypt from the 4th to 1st century BC. Under Roman rule, which began in the 1st century BC, their Greek heritage bought them numerous privileges—privileges they sought to capture in their portraits, outfitting themselves in both dress and hairstyle with the trappings of empire. But they were also fully naturalized Egyptians and thus embraced the practice of mummification. As such, these mummies represent a remarkable fusion of the predominant Egyptian culture, the politics of Roman citizenship and the self-identification of an elite, Greek minority.
Many mummy portraits have been heavily embellished with gold, and the Art Institute portraits are no exception. Universally recognized for its value and brilliance, it is no surprise that this highly symbolic material was used to adorn portraits of the dead. Much is known about the use of gold in ancient Egypt: direct observation of objects has made clear that Egyptian goldsmiths understood and were in sufficient command of gold’s malleability to hammer it into thin foils and sheets.
The gold is highly symbolic, and is linked to the Egyptian gods, which were frequently depicted with golden skin. It symbolizes immortality and wealth.
Romano-Egyptian, Al Fayyum, Egypt (during Roman rule), ca. mid-2nd century CE.
Art Institute of Chicago (1922.4798)
Mummy portrait of a man wearing a gilded ivy wreath
This portrait belongs to a large group of similar works known as “Fayum portraits,” so-named for the region in northern Egypt in which many have been discovered. To create this man’s likeness, the artist painted a thin piece of wood with encaustic, or pigmented wax, a medium that not only gave the impression of three-dimensionality but also resisted fading and deterioration in the dry climate of Egypt. These highly individualized and lifelike portraits conveyed the wealth and status of the person depicted through clothing, jewelry, and other embellishments, such as the gold wreath of ivy worn by this man.
Unlike the classical mummies that usually come to mind in a hard coffin of wood or cartonnage (layers of linen or papyrus glued together and often coated with stucco), Roman mummies were wrapped in cloth, sometimes in a linen shroud but more often in strips of linen arranged in intricate patterns. This specific mummification practice was concentrated primarily in and around the Fayum Basin (the region that gives the associated portraits their name) and dates to between the 1st and 3rd century CE. About 900 of these portraits are known, and all but a tiny fraction of them have been removed from their mummies.
The deceased were descendants of the Ptolemaic Greeks who controlled Egypt from the 4th to 1st century BC. Under Roman rule, which began in the 1st century BC, their Greek heritage bought them numerous privileges—privileges they sought to capture in their portraits, outfitting themselves in both dress and hairstyle with the trappings of empire. But they were also fully naturalized Egyptians and thus embraced the practice of mummification. As such, these mummies represent a remarkable fusion of the predominant Egyptian culture, the politics of Roman citizenship and the self-identification of an elite, Greek minority.
Many mummy portraits have been heavily embellished with gold, and the Art Institute portraits are no exception. Universally recognized for its value and brilliance, it is no surprise that this highly symbolic material was used to adorn portraits of the dead. Much is known about the use of gold in ancient Egypt: direct observation of objects has made clear that Egyptian goldsmiths understood and were in sufficient command of gold’s malleability to hammer it into thin foils and sheets.
The gold is highly symbolic, and is linked to the Egyptian gods, which were frequently depicted with golden skin. It symbolizes immortality and wealth.
Romano-Egyptian, Al Fayyum, Egypt (during Roman rule), ca. mid-2nd century CE.
Art Institute of Chicago (1922.4798)