Creative Commons Licensed ‘Mummy’ Portraits
So-called ‘mummy’ portraits (mostly from the Fayum/Faiyum cemetery in Hawara, Egypt) were realistic likenesses of the deceased painted on wood or linen. Only the wealthy could afford them. These individuals were Roman citizens. Roman Egypt’s population was of mixed heritage: Greek, Italian, & north African.
Portrait of a man. The narrow stripes on his tunic indicate that he is of equestrian rank. Romano-Egyptian, c. 190-230 CE. Encaustic painting on wood. Possibly painted in Antinoé, Egypt. Image courtesy of the Musée du Louvre, Paris; Dept of Egyptian Antiquities (AF 6883). © 1998 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Georges Poncet. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Portrait of an officer with his sword belt. Romano-Egyptian, c. 150 CE. His tunic’s stripe denotes equestrain rank. Image courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Inv. 31161, 3). CC BY-SA 4.0
Portrait of a man. Encaustic on limewood. Roman period, c. 80-100 CE. His narrow crimson bands suggest he is of equestrian rank. From Fayum in Hawara, Egypt. Image courtesy of the British Museum, the Egypt and Sudan dept (EA74718). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Portrait of a woman. Encaustic on oak. Roman period, c. 200 CE. From Fayum, Egypt. The crimpson color of her garment, along with her gold jewelry, mark her high status. Image courtesy of the British Museum, the Egypt and Sudan dept (EA65344). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Portrait of a young woman. Encaustic on limewood. Roman period, c. 200 CE. The portrait’s style and gilding indicate she is from a very wealthy family. From Saqqara (near Memphis) Egypt. Image courtesy of the British Museum, the Egypt and Sudan dept (EA29772). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Portrait of a young man. Encaustic on wood. Roman period, c. 150-210 CE. The red strip indicates he is of equestrian rank. Photo taken by MatthiasKabel on Nov. 15, 2008 at the Munich Glyptothek and Ancient Collections/Staatliche Antikensammlungen (Inv. 15013). CC BY-SA 2.0.
