Roman-Egyptian Portraiture
A style of portrait painting that mixed Roman realism with Egyptian traditions, popular in Egypt under Roman rule.
What is it?
Roman-Egyptian portraiture is a style of painting that developed in Egypt during the Roman period (about 50 BCE to 300 CE). These portraits show people with realistic faces, Roman hairstyles and clothing, but they were placed on Egyptian mummies. The portraits were often painted on wooden panels using encaustic or tempera. The child mummy portrait you saw is a perfect example: the boy's white tunic and bulla are Roman, but the portrait's purpose is Egyptian.
Why it matters
This style shows how two cultures blended together. It also gives us realistic images of people from ancient times. Many of these portraits are in museums today.
Where you've seen it
This list grows as you capture more Roman-Egyptian portraits.