Arcadópolis
Mummy with an Inserted Panel Portrait of a Youth
Fayum mummy portraits, 80–100
What you see
A full-length mummy fills the image, shown upright against a black background. At the top, framed by linen, a small portrait shows a young man with dark hair and a wreath of gold leaves, gazing gravely ahead. The rest is a long bundle of wrappings that tapers gradually to the rounded feet.
The pale beige bands cross diagonally to form a network of diamonds; at the center of each, smaller layers step inward and cast shadows. Among so many pale tones, the portrait holds all the color. Compare its size with that of the body, and notice the linen border that frames it.
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
Funerary Panel of a Man
Elderly Man Flanked by Egyptian Gods
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