Portrait of a Man Wearing a Laurel Wreath

This portrait belongs to a large group of similar works known as Fayum portraits, named for the region in northern Egypt in which many have been discovered. They were naturalistic portraits painted on wooden boards and attached to upper-class mummies from Roman Egypt. Extant examples indicate that they were mounted into the bands of cloth that were used to wrap the bodies. Almost all have now been detached from the mummies. In terms of artistic tradition, the images clearly derive more from Greco-Roman artistic traditions than Egyptian ones.

To create this man’s likeness, the artist painted a thin piece of wood with encaustic, or pigmented wax, a medium that not only gave the impression of three-dimensionality but also resisted fading and deterioration in the dry climate of Egypt. These highly individualized and lifelike portraits conveyed the wealth and status of the person depicted through clothing, jewelry, and other embellishments, such as the gold wreath of laurel worn by this man.

P.S. Are you ready to see more lifelike "death" portraits? Here you will learn more about the Fayum portraits (you will love them).  <3

P.P.S. Have you seen our Art Journals, where you can write your thoughts and feelings about art you encounter? Check them out here.  :)