Mummy Portrait of a Bearded Man

Romano-Egyptian funerary portrait of a man painted in tempera (pigments suspended in animal glue) on a cedar of Lebanon panel. A rare import to Egypt, cedar of Lebanon was used for the construction of elite funerary and devotional equipment. Carbon-14 analysis provides a date of 196-55 B.C. for the wood, several centuries earlier than the stylistic dating of the panel at A.D. 225-250. This chronological inconsistency may have resulted from the wood having been removed from an earlier tomb and reused centuries later. The recycling of rare and costly materials is not uncommon in Roman Egypt, where wood – especially cedar of Lebanon – was highly valued.

The man wears a white tunic with blue clavi (woven stripes). In his right hand he holds a small glass, probably containing red wine, in his left hand (missing its thumb) a folded wreath of rose petals, possibly indicating affiliation with the cult of Isis. Although this portrait is without provenience, many of its features, including the diagonal clipping of the top corners to aid insertion into the mummy wrappings, are commensurate with panels from Er-Rubayat as are the heavy application of pigment modeled from areas of flat paint and the linear style of the facial features. Specific portraits of observable similarity are in the collections of The Brooklyn Museum (41.848), National Museums Scotland (1902.70) and The National Museum of Ireland (Dublin 1902.4), all from Er-Rubayat.

The tempera was applied atop a white gesso ground. Madder (an organic red pigment) was used for the rose petals, red wine, and the flush of the cheeks. Indigo (an organic plant dye) was mixed with madder to make the purple stripes on his collar and the dark blue of the clavi (woven stripes). Indigo was also mixed with the yellow pigment orpiment for the green foliage below the rose garland. There is considerable paint loss at the top right and bottom left of the panel. Parts of the face, notably the center of the forehead, right ear lobe, and the lower lip have been retouched.