Mummy Portrait of a Bearded Man 250

This Fayum portrait from 250 AD, currently housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum, depicts a bearded man in a white tunic. The portrait, painted on a wooden panel, utilizes encaustic painting, a technique using heated wax and pigments. Fayum portraits, originating from the Egyptian oasis of Fayum, were painted to adorn mummy cases and served as a visual representation of the deceased for the afterlife. The realism and individual features captured in the portrait highlight the artistic skill of the anonymous Fayum artists who created these remarkable depictions of individuals from ancient Egypt.