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Lot Essay
Produced in Egypt for a relatively short time during the Roman period, from the mid-1st Century A.D. to the 3rd Century A.D., mummy portraits present us with hauntingly life-like portraits, thought to depict the deceased at the age of their death. The panel would have been positioned over the head of the mummy and wrapped in place with linen bands. The gilded background immediately surrounding the head and neck indicates the extent of the portrait originally revealed in the mummy wrappings.
The above panel is only 1.5 mm. thick. Doxiadis explains that "the thinner the panel, the better it would be able to curve slightly in accord with the shape of the upper part of the body. The wood of the sycamore fig is particularly flexible - especially if boiled in water before use - and does not break even when forced to acquire a round shape...A final advantage of thinness would be that wood in Egypt was scarce and expensive" (The Mysterious Fayum Portraits, Faces from Ancient Egypt, London, 1995, p. 94). Sycamore fig was the most widely used wood for these portraits, though cypress, cedar, pine, fir and lime were also used. Discussing the use of colours and gilding on the portraits, Doxiadis says "on certain portraits, part of the background left exposed by the wrappings is covered in gold leaf, giving a god-like, eternal glow to the picture and symbolizing eternal life" (op. cit. p. 99).
The above panel is only 1.5 mm. thick. Doxiadis explains that "the thinner the panel, the better it would be able to curve slightly in accord with the shape of the upper part of the body. The wood of the sycamore fig is particularly flexible - especially if boiled in water before use - and does not break even when forced to acquire a round shape...A final advantage of thinness would be that wood in Egypt was scarce and expensive" (The Mysterious Fayum Portraits, Faces from Ancient Egypt, London, 1995, p. 94). Sycamore fig was the most widely used wood for these portraits, though cypress, cedar, pine, fir and lime were also used. Discussing the use of colours and gilding on the portraits, Doxiadis says "on certain portraits, part of the background left exposed by the wrappings is covered in gold leaf, giving a god-like, eternal glow to the picture and symbolizing eternal life" (op. cit. p. 99).