Alluring Mummy Portraits Dating Back To Almost 2,000 Years Ago Now On Display

by rrollins, October 19, 2023

Image via Allard Pierson Museum of Antiquities

You’re looking into the eyes of a woman who lived almost 2,000 years ago in Egypt. You’ll meet more of these faces from the Roman period at the Face to Face: The People Behind Mummy Portraits exhibition at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam.

Such vivid artworks, also known as Fayum portraits (referencing the city most of them were unearthed), were often painted onto wooden panels and placed over mummified faces.

The showcase, the first of its kind in the Netherlands, features 38 mummy portraits from various parts of the world, including treasures from the Louvre and the J. Paul Getty Museum, aside from the museum’s own collection. These portraits have a unique allure due to their lifelike realism, clothing details, and intense gazes, and are regarded as the earliest examples of realistically painted portraiture.

Many mummy portraits had their upper corners trimmed so they could be easily slotted through bandages, placed above the actual bodies of the deceased, Live Science learns from Ben van den Bercken, curator of the Collection Ancient Egypt and Sudan at Allard Pierson. Importantly, the recovered faces give a voice to real people who walked the earth nearly two millennia ago as well as opening a window into the lives and society of the time.

Portrait of a woman, 150–200 AD, panel, height 33 cm. Photo (C) Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Georges Poncet via Universiteit van Amsterdam / EurekAlert

The above piece shows a woman with large eyes and thick eyebrows. Her hairstyle and pearl earrings offer validation to experts that the portrait was painted between 150 and 200 AD.

Portrait of a man, 225–250 AD, textile, height 52.5 cm. Photo (C) Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Georges Poncet via Universiteit van Amsterdam / EurekAlert

This portrait, known as the Portrait of “Ammonius,” depicts a man with prominent eyes, lips, and ears. He’s seen holding a chalice and flower bouquet.

The Allard Pierson Museum collaborated with research partners across Europe and the United States to present this spectacle, drawing on the latest findings from technical research into materials. This exhibition is part of APPEAR, a research network of 60 museums focusing on mummy portraits.

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Face to Face: The People Behind Mummy Portraits opened its doors on October 6, inviting visitors for a unique meet-and-greet with the past until February 25, 2024.

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