1-277-553 - Art Media/Heritage Images

Mummy portrait of an Egyptian woman, c1st-3rd century. The use of personalised mummy portraits of this type in Ancient Egypt began during the Roman period. Known as Fayum portraits, they are encaustic paintings, made with hot, pigmented wax on wooden panels, which were inserted into the mummy of the deceased person. From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.