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Egyptian, Fayum Oasis

Portrait of a Woman, ca. 70 CE

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Egyptian

Title

Portrait of a Woman

Year

ca. 70 CE

Medium

Encaustic on wood

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • encaustic paint

Supports

  • wood

Dimensions

37.5 x 21.9 cm (14 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches)

Place

Fayum Oasis

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Jesse H. Metcalf

Object Number

17.060

Projects & Publications

Publications

Roman Paintings and Mosaics

Catalogue of the Classical Collection

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Beyond the Pharaohs

February 10 - April 16, 1989

Ancient Egyptian Galleries

In 30 BCE, the Romans conquered Egypt, the final event in the eastern Mediterranean’s transition from Hellenistic (Greek) to Roman rule. After this shift in power, the
Egyptian funerary practice of mummification was blended with Greco-Roman traditions of lifelike portraiture.

These painted panels depicting elite members of Egyptian society were mounted over the faces of the mummified dead. The portraits were executed in tempera (pigment mixed with animal glue) or encaustic (pigment mixed with melted or emulsified wax). Encaustic was painted with brushes, though painters often used a
hard tool to blend tones and create texture and depth. Tempera dries quickly and would have been applied using extremely fine brushes.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Portrait of a Woman with the accession number of 17.060. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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