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Source Description

The woman portrayed here is richly adorned with jewelry, from her gold and pearl earrings to the gold embellishments on her purple garment to her heavy gold necklace. The raised shapes are created with plaster, and the gold elements are gilded. The central design of the large disc pendant appears to be a gold coin, and examples of Roman and Late antique jewelry that incorporates gold coins have survived. The woman’s white garment is tied in a knot that may connect her to the cult of the goddess Isis. The shape of the panel—narrower around her head and broader at her shoulders—is thought to be characteristic of mummy portraits from the city of Antinoöpolis, Egypt. This panel is unusually thick, and remnants of cloth are stuck to the sides and back. Prior to the Roman Period, the likeness of the deceased on the mummy mask, coffin, and sarcophagus was an idealized representation that conformed to the general style of the period. With the arrival of Roman rule in Egypt, mummy portraits became increasingly naturalistic. The portraits were placed over the head of the deceased and secured by the linen strips that bound the mummy. The subjects of the portraits are generally shown in the prime of life and are often shown adorned in luxurious garments and jewelry.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
30478
label
Panel Portrait of a Woman
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
30478
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Panel Portrait of a Woman
description
The woman portrayed here is richly adorned with jewelry, from her gold and pearl earrings to the gold embellishments on her purple garment to her heavy gold necklace. The raised shapes are created with plaster, and the gold elements are gilded. The central design of the large disc pendant appears to be a gold coin, and examples of Roman and Late antique jewelry that incorporates gold coins have survived. The woman’s white garment is tied in a knot that may connect her to the cult of the goddess Isis. The shape of the panel—narrower around her head and broader at her shoulders—is thought to be characteristic of mummy portraits from the city of Antinoöpolis, Egypt. This panel is unusually thick, and remnants of cloth are stuck to the sides and back. Prior to the Roman Period, the likeness of the deceased on the mummy mask, coffin, and sarcophagus was an idealized representation that conformed to the general style of the period. With the arrival of Roman rule in Egypt, mummy portraits became increasingly naturalistic. The portraits were placed over the head of the deceased and secured by the linen strips that bound the mummy. The subjects of the portraits are generally shown in the prime of life and are often shown adorned in luxurious garments and jewelry.
provenance
Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [as from Fayum]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1912, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 130-200 CE (Roman Imperial)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
mummy portraits
death masks
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensionsRaw
H: 18 × W at bottom: 8 1/8 × W at top: 7 × D: 1/4 in. (45.7 × 20.64 × 17.78 × 0.64 cm)
Source extras
cul
Roman
med
encaustic (wax and pigments) on beech wood
creator_ids
6182
collection_ids
ROM
exhibition_ids
3055
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
8f3ae83549479ebb
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
b0d3ef1e4f9d93a7
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no