Mummy Portrait of An Old Man Anagoria 

This is a painted panel of an old man named Anagoria, one of the Fayum mummy portraits created in Roman Egypt between approximately 50 and 250 AD. These portraits offer a fascinating glimpse into the complex cultural identity of the time. They reflect the melding of Egyptian funerary traditions with Roman artistic conventions. The subject's identity as an older man is marked by his greying beard and balding head. His gaze, directed slightly off-center, conveys a sense of introspection. The portraits served a ritualistic purpose, placed over the face of the mummified body, yet they also present a striking realism. The portraits invite us to consider questions of cultural hybridity, identity, and representation in a colonial context. They prompt consideration of the people who lived in this place and time. What did it mean to be both Egyptian and Roman? How did they see themselves, and how did they want to be remembered? These are just some of the mysteries these hauntingly beautiful portraits reveal.