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Material : Encaustic Painting on Wood
Width : 22 Height : 31
Found in : Fayum ()
Period : ROMAN PERIOD
Found in Fayum , this portrait of a woman dates back to the Roman Period (end of the first century 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 .
With masterly , this example of the Fayum portraits is an encaustic painting made on wood . It depicts details of the face of an elegant aristocratic young woman . This is evidenced from the woman's most impressive facial expressions , elegant chignon with symmetrical ringlets , and her upright posture . Skillfully portrayed are the portions of each detail of the lady's face . Hanging down from her long , graceful , and smooth neck is a gold choker with a pendant of high taste . Both the slender eyebrows and the large beautiful eyes add to the lady's charm . Hanging from her ears are two U-shaped earrings .
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