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Painted sculpture of a bearded man.

This sculpture of a man’s neck and head is primarily white with paint remnants. He has close-cropped, curly hair, and a short beard along his jawline. Staring straight ahead, he has a serene expression on his face, and his wide, almond eyes are inset with black glass. Two raised strips on either side of his neck hints at a garment. Pigment remnants are found in the peach coloring of his skin along his forehead, eyelids, cheeks, ears, and collarbones, and in the dark brown coloring in his hair, eyebrows, and beard.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1965.551
Title
Fragmentary portrait of a man
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
Late 2nd-early 3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Roman Imperial period, Middle
Culture
Egyptian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/287345

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Plaster with remains of paint and glass inlays
Technique
Handmade
Dimensions
35 × 27 × 27 cm (13 3/4 × 10 5/8 × 10 5/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Nicolas Koutoulakis, Paris, (by 1953)], sold; to Dr. Robert Waelder, Pennsylvania, (1953-1965), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1965.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Robert Waelder
Accession Year
1965
Object Number
1965.551
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Gunter Grimm, Die Romischen Mumienmasken aus Agypten (Wiesbaden, 1974), p. 86, pl 52, fig. 1
  • Asja Mueller, "Provenancing Roman Period Mummy Masks: Workshop Groups and Distribution Areas", Proceedings of the Seventh European Conference of Egyptologists, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. (Oxford, 2015), p. 134, fig. 74
  • Haddon Dine, Julie Wertz, Katherine Eremin, Georgina Rayner, Angela Chang, and H. Greg Lin, Technical Study of a Plaster Funerary Mask in the Collection of the Harvard Art Museums, Objects Specialty Group Postprints, Objects Specialty Group Postprints (https://resources.culturalheritage.org/osg-postprints/v28/, Summer 2021), 28, Pages 92-116, Figure 1, Page 93; Figure 2, Page 94; Figure 3, Page 96; Figure 4, Page 97; Figure 5, Page 99; Figure 6, Page 100; Figure 7, Page 101; Figure 8, Page 102; Figure 9, Page 103; Figure 10, Page 105; Figure 11, Page 104; Figure 12, Page 105; Figure 13, Page 105; Figure 14, Page 106; Figure 15, Page 107; Figure 106, Page1 07; Figure 17, Page 108; Figure 18, Page 109; Figure 19, Page 110

Exhibition History

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu