Funerary Mask
Late Ptolemaic Period-early Roman Period, 1st century BCE
Medium
Cartonnage, gold leaf, and pigment
Dimensions
44.5 × 30.5 × 29.8 cm (17 1/2 × 12 × 11 3/4 in.)
Classification
mummy goods
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
136740
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
A funerary mask protected the head and chest of a mummified individual. Rather than presenting a portrait, a mask like this shows the deceased with idealized facial features and the golden skin of a god. At the bottom, kites (birds of prey) with outstretched wings flank divine figures including the ruler of the underworld, Osiris, who sits on a throne in the center. The kites represent Isis and Nephthys, who mourned the death of their brother Osiris. By extension, these goddesses acted as mourne...
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....