Mummy portrait of a man

Summary

The well-preserved portrait of a young man is painted in encaustic on a wooden panel. Originally, the panel was fastened on the face of a mummy. The hair, eyebrows and beard of the man is painted in black. He has red lips and his skin is painted with colours of brown, pink, yellow, and white. His garments are in white and black colours.

Description of object

The portrait of a young man is painted in encaustic on a wooden panel with a white painted background. He has short, thick hair painted in black. His eyebrows are wide and rendered in black. The eyelids are heavy and his eyes are large and painted in a dark brown colour. The nose is prominent and the ears are rendered close to the head. The young man is portrayed with a moustache rendered in black. His mouth is painted in red and his lips are full. The neck is long and his skin is painted with colours of brown, pink, yellow, and white. The young man is wearing a white chiton with black clavi, one on each shoulder. He is also wearing a mantle, which os folded over his left shoulder.

Choice of methods

Technical imaging

• VIL
• IR

Bibliography

W.M.F. Petrie (1911), Roman Portraits and Memphis IV, London, 11, no. 57, pl. IV.

V. Schmidt (1919), Sarkofager, Mumiekister og Mumiehylstre i det gamle Ægypten: Typologisk Atlas med Indledning, København, 245, fig. 1426.

M. Mogensen (1930), Den ægyptiske Samling, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, København, A 593.

K. Parlasca (1966), Mümienporträts und verwandte Denkmäler , Deutsches Archäologisches Instituts, Wiesbaden, 228, no. 113, 251, 253, 268, 293, no. 244.

K. Parlasca (1980), Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano, a cura di A. Adriana, serie B, vol. III, Klaus Parlasca, Ritratti di mumie, tavole 121-158, numeri 497-674, Palermo 1980, 34, no. 541, Tav. 131 (2).

L.H. Corcoran (1995), Portrait Mummies from Roman Egypt (I-IV Centuries A.D.) with a catalog of Portrait Mummies in Egyptian Museums, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilisations, no. 56, Chicago, 10.

B. Borg (1996), Mumienporträts, Chronologie und kulturelle Kontext, Deutsches Archäologisches Instituts, Mainz, 74, 107, 222, Tfl. 34.

B. Borg (1998), ‘Der zeierlichste Anblick der Welt…’ Ägyptische Porträtmumien, Sonderhefte der Antiken Welt, Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie, Mainz, 85, Abb. 105.

M. Jørgensen (2001), Egypt III, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 332-33, cat. no. 35.