Mummy portrait mask of a handsome young Roman male Faiyum Egypt Late 1st century CE Encaustic (wax and pigments) on wood
In Roman Egypt (30 BCE-324 CE) artists adapted naturalistic painting styles to the ancient custom of making portrait masks for mummies. The portraits were often painted while the subject was in the prime of life and were hung in the home until the person's death. This practice continued in northern Egypt well into the Early Byzantine Period. So, this Roman may not have died tragically young as his mummy portrait would suggest.
Photographed at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.
Mummy portrait mask of a handsome young Roman male Faiyum Egypt Late 1st century CE Encaustic (wax and pigments) on wood
In Roman Egypt (30 BCE-324 CE) artists adapted naturalistic painting styles to the ancient custom of making portrait masks for mummies. The portraits were often painted while the subject was in the prime of life and were hung in the home until the person's death. This practice continued in northern Egypt well into the Early Byzantine Period. So, this Roman may not have died tragically young as his mummy portrait would suggest.
Photographed at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.