Portrait of a young woman with a gilded wreath
Unknown Artist
A.D. 120–140
Medium
Encaustic on wood with gold leaf
Dimensions
H. 36.5 x W. 17.8 cm (14 3/8 x 7 in.)
Classification
Panel painting, young woman, gilded wreath
Period
Roman Period
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1909
Accession Number
09.181.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Portrait of a Young Woman a Gilded Wreath*, a mesmerizing survivor from Roman Egypt around A.D. 120–. Crafted by an unknown artist using encaustic—a vibrant wax-based paint fused with hot tools—on a slim wooden panel (36.5 x 17.8 cm), this work features gold leaf accents on the wreath crowning the subject. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Egyptian Department (acquired via the Rogers Fund in 9), it exemplifies the Fayum mummy portraits, wooden panels placed over the faces of mummified elites to bridge the living world and the afterlife. These portraits blend Hellenistic r...