Collection

Mummy Mask, c. A.D. 120-170

Roman


Ancient funerary rituals, such as the preservation of the body through mummification, continued to be practiced after Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30 BC. A likeness of the deceased person was placed over the upper body of the coffin to protect the mummy, preserve its vitality, express its divinity, and enable the spirit—after its nightly wanderings—to recognize it and return. Masks like this one were usually cast in a clay mold, with individualized features such as the hair and beard worked in plaster with a spatula and the ears added separately. They were often painted; on this mask, traces of pigment remain visible on the lips and patches of gold leaf appear on the beard and hair, and the eyes are inlaid in glass. Such masks can be dated by hair and beard styles that follow Roman imperial trends. In this case, they are typical of second-century Rome, made fashionable by the emperor Hadrian and the Antonine dynasty.

Provenance

Provenance

(Ben Heller, Inc. New York);

purchased by Kimbell Art Foundation, Fort Worth, 1970.