Mummy Portrait of a Bearded Man

The man in this funerary portrait has tightly curled black hair, thick eyebrows, a beard and moustache. He is clad in a traditional white funerary tunic with red clavi (woven stripes). One extends vertically from the man’s proper right shoulder. A mantle (pallium) is draped over his proper left shoulder; at its lower edge is an “H” pattern similar to that on the Portrait of a Boy (see also 78.AP.262) and possibly indicating the presence of an embroidery motif.



The portrait presents a superb example of the pictorial possibilities intrinsic to the encaustic technique. No ground layer exists, and the encaustic was applied directly to the wood. Overall the surface treatment is very painterly, clearly exhibiting brush strokes and tool markings. The background (neutral grayish-white) and tunic (white) are painted with thick parallel lines radiating out from the portrait, which is heavily impastoed on the face and hair – some details such as the eyelashes are incised. The use of the cestrum, a tool similar to a palette knife, is evident in the textured pigment of the hair. Pigment analysis shows iron oxides (red, yellow, brown), red organic plant dye (madder) and lead white. The linden wood panel is extremely thin and curved, but in very good condition. The upper corners of the panel are roughly chopped at a slight diagonal leaving a straight edge between them. This type of cutting (as contrasted to the round tops associated with panels from Hawara) is linked to portraits from Er-Rubayat.