Hotspurπ³οΈβππΊπ¦"Mummy Portrait of a Man Wearing an Ivy Wreath," Unknown artist, 101 - 150 CE.
Here's something different! The Fayum mummy portraits are a fascinating school of art; these were portraits painted on panels that were attached to the heads of the mummies as they were wrapped for burial. They came from the Roman domination of Egypt, when the two cultures mingled, and represent a unique cross-breeding of Roman and Egyptian art. Panel painting was a highly regarded art in Rome, but very little of it has survived aside from the Fayum portraits, and they were spared because of Egypt's dry climate.
These mummy portraits often show young people (given the short life spans of the time) and it's unknown if painted ahead of time or after death. They were used in the burials of the affluent, and while some were descendants of Greeks or Romans, there were also native Egyptians who adopted Roman names.
The cultural context of these paintings is fascinating enough, but they're also studied for their glimpse into the material culture of the time, with their clothing, hairstyles, and jewelry on display.
From the Art Institute of Chicago.
