Panel Portraits of a Youth, an Adult Man and Two Women

These panel portraits of a youth, and adult man and two women are rare and interesting artefacts that reveal some of how Roman influence mixed with Egyptian tradition after the 1st century BC in Egypt.

They’re life-like portraits of Egyptians’ faces, painted with colours mixed with beeswax on wood, which would be placed on the faces of the mummies of the individuals pictured after they died, preserving their features – in an age before long cameras – for eternity. It was unusual, until later centuries and the arrival of Greek and Roman influences, to ever see people portrayed in such a realistic way in Egyptian art, which tended to favour stylised and idealised portrayals.

The portraits are currently on display at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, on long-term loan from the British Museum.