#portrait rome

[old-movie-stars]

Sophia Loren in Rome, 1955

[solcattus]

In a white chiton, 1893

By Viktor Bobrov

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

2,000-Year-Old Fayum Portraits from Roman Egypt: also known as "mummy portraits," these funerary paintings were often fastened to the coffins of the people they depicted

Above: Fayum portrait of a woman from Roman-occupied Egypt, c.100-110 CE

Fayum portraiture was a popular funerary practice among the upper-class families of Roman Egypt from about 50 CE to 250 CE. Given the high mortality rates for children during this period, many of these portraits depict children and youths, but adults were often featured, too.

Above: portrait of a youth wearing a golden wreath, c.130-150 CE; the wreath and the background of the portrait are both gilded

The population of the Faiyum Delta, where most of these portraits were found, largely contained individuals with both native Egyptian/North African and Greek heritage. The Greek lineages can be traced back to the Ptolemaic period, when the Greeks gained control of Egypt and began to establish settlements throughout the region, gradually leading to a cultural diffusion between the Greek and Egyptian populations. The Romans eventually took control of Egypt in 31 CE, absorbing it into the Roman Empire and colonizing much of North Africa, but the demographics of the Faiyum Delta remained largely unchanged.

Above: portrait of a man with a mole on his nose, c.130-150 CE

Many of these Fayum portraits reflect the same blend of ethnic and cultural roots, depicting individuals with both Greek and native Egyptian heritage (a claim that is supported by both archaeological and genetic evidence). Some portraits may also depict native Egyptians who did not have any European ancestry, but had been integrated into Greco-Roman society.

Above: portrait of a bearded man, c.170-180 CE

These representations of native Egyptians provide us with unique insights into the actual demographics of Roman-occupied Egypt (and the ancient world at large). Non-European peoples are rarely included in depictions of the classical world; it's also interesting to see the blend of cultural elements that these portraits represent.

Above: portrait of a priest of Serapis, c.140-160 CE; the man in this portrait is shown wearing a fillet/crown that bears the seven-pointed star of the Greco-Egyptian god, Serapis

As this article explains:

In the 1800s and early 1900s, Western art historians didn’t know what to make of these portraits. Scholars of Roman history labeled them Egyptian. Scholars of Egyptian history labeled them Greco-Roman. These binary academic classifications failed to capture the true complexity of the ancient (or, indeed, modern) Mediterranean. In reality, Fayum portraits are a syncretic form, merging Egyptian and Greco-Roman art and funerary practices. They reflect the cosmopolitanism of both Roman and Egyptian history.

Above: portrait of a man, c.80-100 CE (left); portrait of a bearded officer, sometimes referred to as "Perseus," c.130-175 CE (right)

Above: portrait of a young woman in red, c.90-120 CE

Nearly 1,000 of these portraits are currently known to exist.

Above: portrait of a man wearing a gilded ivy wreath, c.100-150 CE

Above: portrait of a bearded man, c.150-170 CE

Sources & More Info:

Curationist: Fayum Portraits

Harvard Art Museums: Giving the Dead their Due: an Exhibition Re-Examines Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt

Getty Museum: APPEAR Project

Getty Museum: Faces of Roman Egypt

National Geographic: Ancient Egypt's Stunning, Lifelike Mummy Portraits

The Athens Centre: The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture

Forbes: Whitewashing Ancient Statues: Whiteness, Racism and Color in the Ancient World

[lionofchaeronea]

A Pompeian Lady, John William Godward, 1891

[eirene]

Violets, Sweet Violets John William Godward

[pulquedeguayaba]

By Oliver Mayhall for Los Angeles Times

[elixir]

Skeleton praying, detail from the marble floor of Cornaro Chapel at the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. Italy, 17th century CE.

[miamaimania]

In the lair of Cy Twombly ✍️, Roma, 1969-1970. The studio of a creative genius, captured by Ugo Mulas.

[alexjcrowley]

Those About To Die's decision to make Domitian an evil twink must be the best rebranding I have ever seen

[blueiscoool]

ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT OF A BOY AS WORSHIPPER OF ISIS EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Johann Heinrich von Dannecker (1758-1841) "Lesbia and her Sparrow" Marble Neoclassical

[diemelusine]

Mosaic of the Emperor Justinian I from the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:PetarM

[illustratus]

Lucrezia Borgia by Pinturicchio

Detail from the Disputation of St Catherine of Alexandria

[the-evil-clergyman]

The Priestess by John William Godward (1896)

[eirene]

Two Roman women, from 1872 Wilhelm Kotarbiński

[wandering-cemeteries]

Funerary portrait of Aline

From wikipedia "Mummy portrait of Lady Aline, from Hawara, Egypt, painted directly onto the canvas of the mummy wrapping. The Tomb of Aline is an ancient Egyptian grave from the time of Tiberius or Hadrian, excavated at Hawara in 1892, Neues Museum, Berlin"

Neues Museum, Berlin

Feb. 2023