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Notes
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This portrait was excavated from a burial chamber and dates to the second century AD, when Egypt was part of the Roman Empire. A middle-aged man directly confronts the viewer through his large heavy-lidded, golden-brown eyes. His portraitist has taken care to paint every hair of his beard and moustache so that they appear coarse and wiry. A gold wreath of leaves with a flower at its centre garlands his curly hair. Folds of cream-coloured drapery curve around his neck, crossing diagonally at his chest. At the far left of his tunic is a deep red clavus, a coloured stripe that denoted status in Rome. The painting was probably commissioned at the man’s death and then set into the case containing his mummified body. Only the wealthiest citizens would have been able to afford this kind of burial rite and image.
Title
A Man with a Wreath
Date
probably 2nd C–3rd C
Medium
Probably encaustic on wood
Measurements
H 42 x W 22 cm
Accession number
NG3932
Acquisition method
Mond Bequest, 1924
Work type
Painting
