Mummy portrait of a man

Summary

The well-preserved portrait of a young man is painted in encaustic on a thin wooden panel with a background painted in grey. Originally, the panel was fastened on the face of a mummy. His hair, eyebrows and beard are rendered in black paint. His eyes are dark brown and his lips pink. The skin is rendered in brown, white and reddish colours. His garments are painted in white and reddish colours.

Description of object

The well-preserved portrait of a young man is painted in encaustic on a thin wooden panel with a background painted in grey. Originally, the panel was fastened on the face of a mummy. The young man has black, thick hair and wavy locks are rendered on the forhead. He is rendered in a three-quarter view and only one ear is visible, indicating a turn of the head. His eyebrows are wide, almost uniting in the middle, and rendered in black. The eyes are large and round and painted in dark brown. Eyelashes are indicated. His nose is straight. He is rendered with a beard, which is visible along his cheeks and chin and just beneath and above his mouth. His lips are rendered in a pinkish colour. His neck is wide. The skin is rendered in brown, white and reddish colours. The young man is wearing a white chiton with reddish clavi by each shoulder. Furthermore, he is wearing a white mantle across his left shoulder.

Choice of methods

Technical imaging

• UV
• VIL
• IR

Bibliography

(1892) Katalog zu Theodor Graf’s Gallerie antiker Porträts aus hellenistischer Zeit, Leipzig, 29, no. 66.

V. Schmidt (1908), Den ægyptiske Samling, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Kjøbenhavn, E. 528.

K. Parlasca (1966), Mümienporträts und verwandte Denkmäler , Deutsches Archäologisches Instituts, Wiesbaden, 22, no. 44, 226, no. 93, 246, no. 66, 268.

K. Parlasca (1977), Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano, a cura di A. Adriani, serie B vol II, Klaus Parlasca, Ritratti di mumie, tavole 61-120, numeri 247-496, Palermo, 39, no. 288, Tav. 69 (3).

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

K. Parlasca & H. Seemann (1999), Augenblicke, Mumienporträts und ägyptische Grabkunst aus römischer Zeit, Eine Ausstellung der Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 30. Januar bis 11. April 1999, München, 190-191, no. 93.

M. Jørgensen (2001), Egypt III, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 336-337, cat. no. 37.