Mummy Portraits
The mummy portraits are stunning, with production beginning around 30-40 CE.
Examples include portraits of an unknown woman (c.160-70) and a boy called Eutyches (c.100-150).
The Annual Report of the Director of the National Gallery for 1888 announced the display of three painted wooden panels.
The panels were almost two thousand years old and had been unearthed the year before from Roman-period cemeteries in Hawara, in the Fayum basin in Egypt.
- They had been placed over the faces of mummies and integrated into their wrappings.
- Before arriving at the National Gallery, they were shown in the Egyptian Hall on Piccadilly.
Author's summary: Mummy portraits from Roman-period Egypt are showcased.