Arcadópolis
Funerary Panel of a Man
Fayum mummy portraits, c. 138–192
What you see
Painted on a fragment of linen with frayed edges, the young man faces us from the neck up. His tousled brown hair fills the upper part, where a large piece of cloth is missing on the right. His big hazel-brown eyes are ringed with deep shadows. A thin moustache and a light beard darken his upper lip and chin.
His skin is a deep reddish brown, set off by the gray-green background. The paint is dense, yet in many places the weave of the linen shows through. On the left, a reddish ear peeks out. Keep an eye out for the glint of light in the eye on the right and the pale tones of clothing at the shoulders.
About Fayum mummy portraits
The Fayum portraits are some 900 portraits painted on wooden panels in Roman Egypt between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD by artists whose names we do not know. They were placed over the face of the mummy, held in place by the linen wrappings, and painted in encaustic (beeswax mixed with pigments) or tempera with striking realism. They are one of the largest groups of panel paintings to survive from classical antiquity, and their frontal gaze foreshadows icon painting.
More by Fayum mummy portraits
Portrait of the Boy Eutyches
Portrait of a Young Woman in Red
Funerary Portrait of a Young Girl
Portrait of a Thin-Faced, Bearded Man
Portrait of a Man with a Mole on His Nose
Portrait of a Young Woman with a Gilded Wreath
Portrait of a Thin-Faced Man
Funerary Portrait of a Woman
Elderly Man Flanked by Egyptian Gods
Mummy with an Inserted Panel Portrait of a Youth
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