Mummy Case: Portrait Of Artemidorus

early age in which he passed. A detail from the mummy case, Portrait of Artemidorus (Fig. 15-17) shows us how young Artemidorus was when he died. The portrait depicts a handsome young man with huge brown eyes and smooth skin. He wears a wreath on top of his hair which is stylized in a manner that was popular during the rule of Trajan. Another example from Hawara of painting on woods for a mummy case can be seen on Mummy portrait of young woman (Fig. 15-18). This painting is of a young woman that dates around ca. 110-120. The hairstyle this woman wears allowed those who discovered it to add an approximate date to the painting. Her hair is resting on top of her head in a bun secured by a pin of pears and a chain of gold. The rest of her body is also adorned with
15-19). This example not only allows us to demonstrate the recurrent use of wood panels to furnish mummies, it also allows us to illustrate the variety of subjects depicted on this kind of paintings. This portrait on wood is of an Antonine man from the mid-second century, ca. 140-160. This painting depicts an older man with a full beard and curly hair. His big brown piercing eyes stare at the spectator. The hair style of the painting was once again utilized in the dating of the piece. The hair depicted in the painting suggests the date around 140 and 160. The three strands that hand on his forehead in particular help identify the cult to which the man adhered to. It is suggested by the details of the painting that this man was of the Serapis cult and was perhaps even a priest (Kleiner 228). The three examples of portraits painted in encaustic on wooden panels helps illustrate the evolution of portrait painting in ancient time. They also demonstrated the diverse subjects depicted on Roman sarcophagi. Most importantly these examples helped illustrate the diversity in which art was utilized by the