Mummy Portrait of a Woman

With large expressive eyes, a woman gazes out for eternity from this Romano-Egyptian mummy portrait. Her clothes and jewelry--a gold necklace and pearl drop earrings--indicate her elite status. Her hairstyle, popular in the royal court at Rome during the Antonine dynasty, allows the portrait to be dated to the period from about A.D. 170 to 200. Often the tempera mummy portraits found at Er-Rubayat in the Fayum were painted in a less naturalistic style than those done in encaustic found at other sites, but the painter of this portrait carefully created a three-dimensional image. Highlights and shadows give depth to the woman's face. In contrast to the face, however, the woman's clothing is depicted in a summary manner.