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Material : Tempera on Wood
Width : 19 . 5 Height : 35
Found in : Al Rubayat ()
Period : ROMAN PERIOD
Found in AL Rubayat , this portrait of a woman dates back to the Roman Period (second half of the 2nd and early the 4th centuries AD) . A great corpus of portraits painted on wood known as the "Fayum portraits" and plaster masks was made during the Roman imperial era . The Roman taste had a particular interest in making portraits that stand for iconographic realism . Such a tendency became the most successful expression of the reciprocal penetration of Egyptian and Roman cultures that were far more integrated in death than in life . While plaster masks were placed on the mummy over the area of the face , portraits were either placed among the bandages wrapping the deceased's mummy or on the linen shrouds .
This example of the Fayum portraits is masterly made of tempera on wood . It shows a woman that can not identified from her facial features wearing a long red tunic . This is typical to the Byzantine style of portraiture which is characterized by the shortage of the details given in the faces portrayed . She has a long nose and an oval face . Despite the great deal of color and light contrast employed and the delicate tones applied , the face looks flat and inexpressive . This is made more intense by the faint eyes and the thick dark eyebrows . Her hair is gracefully split in a lovely chignon . Hanging down from her ears is a pair of elegant earrings . A close-up of the portrait shows the woman wearing makeup on her face with great accuracy . The violent movement of her neck is not faithful to the posture the lady adopts .
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