Explore Mummy Portrait of a Woman

Read About an Ancient Egyptian Portrait Made for a Mummy

This is a portrait of a woman from ancient Egypt, painted sometime between 175–200 CE. At that time, Egypt was a part of the Roman Empire, so this portrait was done in a Roman style. The painting is an example of funerary art, or art used to memorialize a person who died. The artist used a type of paint called tempera, which was made by mixing colored powder with animal glue. They painted it on a wooden panel made from a Lebanese cedar tree. The wooden panel is pretty small compared to other funerary portraits like this. It has one large crack across it but is otherwise in very good condition.

The painting style is bright and colorful, with bold, quick brushstrokes. You can really see this in how the artist painted her eyebrows, eyelashes, and tight black curls. Tempera paint dries fast, so artists had to work quickly, using different sizes of brushstrokes.

The woman’s face is made up of curved lines that flow from her hairline down to her mouth and chin (which has a dimple). The lines on her neck are called “Venus rings”—Roman artists often added these to portraits to show beauty and attractiveness.

She’s wearing a pink tunic with decorative stripes. The clothing and jewelry tell us she was wealthy. Her jewelry includes a round decoration on her forehead with two beads and what looks like a large pearl hanging down, thick gold hoop earrings, and two necklaces—one with a gold circle charm and another with pearls and green stones that were probably emeralds.

Questions

Write or discuss your responses.

• What features in the portrait give you clues about the woman’s identity? What does the depiction of the woman tell you about her social status?
• This portrait is an example of funerary art. Where might this portrait be displayed? How does your family memorialize people who have passed?

Art used to honor or memorialize a person who died.

Artworks showing what a specific person looks like. A portrait may look a lot like a person or show idealized characteristics.