Fragmented portrait of a woman from the eyes up.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

This portrait is a fragment of a larger painting, and only shows a woman from her cheeks up to the top of her head. It is broken into two pieces: the larger one has the bulk of the image area and the smaller fragment only showing the proper left side of her head and the top of her ear. In the larger segment, she is shown against a light blue background. Her black hair is parted down the middle and pulled back, and she has arched black eyebrows and big brown eyes with dark eyelashes.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1946.44
Title
Fragmentary portrait of a woman
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
Second half 2nd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Fayum (Egypt)
Period
Roman Imperial period, Middle
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/291670

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Support: Imported European lime wood (Tilia europaea) Binder: Beeswax Pigments: Lead white, red and yellow ochres, carbon black, natrojarosite, Egyptian blue
Dimensions
13.97 cm (5 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Mrs. A. Kingsley Porter, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1946.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. A. Kingsley Porter
Accession Year
1946
Object Number
1946.44
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Although difficult to characterize because of its fragmentary nature, the portrait depicts a young woman. The woman looks forward with large brown eyes that are delicately rimmed with thick lashes. The figure's black-brown hair is parted in the center and pulled back from her face with visible rows of herring-bone pattern painted in thick, dark pigment to suggest plaited rows.

Publication History

  • Hilde Zaloscer, Porträts aus dem Wüstensand: die Mumienbildnisse aus der Oase Fayum, Verlag A. Schroll & Co., g.m.b.h. (Wien, 1961), p. 60

Exhibition History

Related Objects

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