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Gallery Talk: Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt

Portrait of a woman with brown eyes, black hair, and a white garment on a rectangular wooden panel.
Portrait of a woman, Egypt, probably from Philadelphia (near er-Rubayat), second half 2nd century CE. Support: native Egyptian sycamore fig (Ficus sycomorus), willow wood (Salix species); binder: animal glue; pigments: bassanite, anhydrite, alunite, red and yellow ochres, bone black, carbon black, madder lake, red lead. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 1939.111.

Gallery Talk

In-Person
Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA

Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt: Facing Forward is a team-curated exhibition that brings together art history, Egyptology, and conservation science to illuminate artists’ processes and the life stories of the people depicted in funerary portraits. Join two exhibition curators as they describe what can be learned when close looking, scientific analysis, and community collaboration combine.

Our galleries are full of stories—this series of talks gives visitors a chance to hear the best ones! The talks highlight new works on view, take a fresh look at old favorites, investigate artists’ materials and techniques, and reveal the latest discoveries by curators, conservators, fellows, visiting artists, technologists, and other contributors.

Gallery talks are limited to 18 people, and it is required that you reserve your place. At 10am the day of the event, reservations will open and may be arranged online through this form. The gallery talk reservation will also serve as your general museum reservation. If required, visitors will pay the museum admission fee upon arrival.

Please meet in the Calderwood Courtyard, in front of the digital screens between the shop and the admissions desk.

Please visit the museum website to learn about our general policies.

Support for this exhibition is provided by the Kelekian Fund, the Christopher and Jean Angell Charitable Fund, and the Kornfeld Foundation (through Christopher Angell). Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.