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A wax encaustic portrait on a wood panel depicting a young woman. She has dark hair in rows of curls across her forehead. The skin pigment appears extremely patchy (predominantly cream). She has maroon-colored lips; the eyes are dark brown and white. There is no trace of jewellery except for ball earrings. The background is blue-grey. The portrait is virtually complete (in two main pieces, but restored previously from fragments, which were longitudinally cracked). There are traces of oiled bandages from its mummy binding at the top and lower edges of the plate (there are a few small linen patches). From Hawara cemetery, Egypt. 2nd century CE. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London (with thanks to The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL).
NB: The Petrie Museum has the largest collection of these "portraits" outside of Egypt. Originally, these portraits were placed over their mummified body; these images were hailed as the 1st life-like representations of real people on their 1st exhibition in London in 1888 CE. These portraits were excavated in 1888-1889 CE and 1910-1911 CE.
Amin, O. S. M. (2016, March 24). Wax Encaustic Mummy Portrait, Hawara. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/image/4775/
Amin, Osama S. M. "Wax Encaustic Mummy Portrait, Hawara." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified March 24, 2016. https://www.ancient.eu/image/4775/.
Amin, Osama S. M. "Wax Encaustic Mummy Portrait, Hawara." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 24 Mar 2016. Web. 04 Mar 2021.
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