Introduction to Art History

Roman Art: The funerary portrait of a man with cup

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Table of Contents:

Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3

The funerary portrait of a man with a cup: ............................................................................... 4

Conclusion: .................................................................................................................................... 6

References ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Introduction
The conducted research is about Roman Egyptian art, and specifically the funerary portrait of a
man with a cup. I have discussed the history coming from Egyptians regarding arts and then Romans,
what was the purpose of their such portraits from one I have elaborated briefly

This research is about Sumerian art, and specifically the statues of Gudea. I will discuss who was Gudea
of Lagash, and the purpose of his devotional statues. I will discuss three of his statues. One of these
statues is at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and I will discuss two other well-known Gudea statues, both of which
are located at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Furthermore, I will also discuss the similarities and
differences between these three statues.

In 31 B.C, When Egypt went under the hands of Romans after the war Egyptians used to wrap

their dead into mummies wrapping from head to toe and kept those in wooden coffins. They aim

to have a physical sculpture of dead persons. The idea for Romans was very new and different and

they tried to adopt the concept. The very first example of art was “Panel Portraits” which were

observed to be of Mummies of ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptians longed to have a physical

duplicate of a dead. Romans adopted it and introduced the art named “Funerary Portrait” or

“Fayum Mummy Portrait”. As they might have very less information or understanding of such

doing but they kept on growing in this area of art from going in various forms of such portraits and

sculptures. There are more than 700 such portraits around the globe. 100 of them were found from

Roman cemeteries. (Thompson)

These portraits used to cover the faces of bodies that were mummified for burial. They usually

depict an unmarried individual, showing the head, and chest from front. In terms of artistic way of

life, the pictures simply derive greater from Greco-Roman inventive traditions than the Egyptian

ones. (Ramage)
Many questions came as are these portraits are actually portraits? The answer is mixed as they are

pictures known as pained from life and people usually portrait their loved ones as they wished they

should be like when they were living. For Example, a portrait of a man with moustache found in

South Africa and its mummy saw through X-ray showed that she was a woman portrayed as a man.

The researcher suggested that maybe she had major sexual identity problem or her family or

parents wanted her to be a man.

As it is known hat Romans have ruled over half of the world, with hat context we can say that

collective knowledge for the artwork is not sufficient. Rome is the biggest symbol of artwork in

the 21st century, it is much diversified with unique and very magnificent artistic visualizations

around. Roman artists always desired to have great variety in there artworks for that they even

copied ancient art and modified it with there new ideas. Romans portrayed historic events without

giving any imagery or fanciful. Modern era’s Nude Art back in that time was common. Because

realism was prioritized and that is how Romans gained popularity in the art world. And from the

painting of mummies, they shifted to living humans. (Grant, 1991

Roman sculptures are also very famous can be seen engraved on walls, pillars of ancient buildings.

Which were probably the copies of Greek’s wonder. The speciality of Roman sculptures is that

they are very close to realness in them like portraits of dead’s used to give a real effect of living in

them. Other famous art known “Mosaics” Art which was used to decorate the floor and walls.

Moreover, the wall paintings are also one of the great Roman discoveries.

The funerary portrait of a man with a cup is a portrait:

The funerary portrait of a man with a cup is a portrait painted on a wooden panel. By Antinopolis

one thing that has been observed is that the portrait painters have tried to symbolize the social
implications through the outlooks of portraits. In the very limited area, they paint the painters were

not just appointed to paint a look-alike of the dyed person but to also add what was his/her likings

and how future would have for them. Their close relatives used to have a strong connection even

after not being physically there. The mummy portraits used to be visited. The mummy portraits

have very much of the importance as it is representing the historical art and its importance.

The very most portraits of young teenage boys observed like they were depicting the characteristics

of masculinity as social rituals. The boys of age 13-14 are painted as 18. The most common sign

of maturation shown is facial hair in males. The observation of Shakespeare's Beatrice, 'He that

hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man’. Even in some

portraits of males having different age groups are naked and their private parts have also been

painted. Through such symbolism, they try to show the social connection and power of elite

groups. (Montserrat, 1993)

Some authors propose that the concept of such paintings may be related to the custom many of the

Roman the Aristocracy of showing imagines, pictures of their deceased ancestors. But at the

beginning possibly to symbolize the presence of the lifeless. Roman fairs together with the

Parentalia, as well as regular domestic rituals, cultivated ancestral spirits. The development of

mummy portraiture may represent a combination of Egyptian and Roman funerary tradition.

These portraits mostly depict various hairstyles. Painter’s main focus is also on the hairstyle of

every individual because they used to make them recognizable. Royal families of Romans used to

keep these portraits for years for displaying the imperial family members. And also the fashion

of clothes and looks used to change time-to-time as almost 900 such portraits are presently found

are giving the insight of provincial fashion of that era. Roman men used to have short hair, Simple
hairstyles with a central parting in the Tiberian duration are accompanied by way of more

complicated ringlet hairstyles, nested plaits and curly toupées over the forehead within the late 1st

century. It appears to be the case that curly hairstyles have been in particular popular in Egypt.

Likewise from clothing style, it is depicting the general fashion sense. Men and women both used

to wear “Chiton” undergarments. And a cloak over. Men have appeared wearing white and female

are seen wearing pink and purple colours

Conclusion:
Roman Egyptians used to depict the man will still be alive after their death as to be reborn from

his mummy. From this understanding, people brought art to the next level. These portraits

painted from life gave us huge information regarding our history, people living, culture observed

and along with other factors. How art moved from just portraying deceased relatives to have a

memory to how the whole of Rome is now the symbol of great art around the world is

unbelievable.
References
Grant, M. (1991). Art in the Roman Empire . londone : British library .

Montserrat, D. (1993). the representation of young males in 'Fayum Portraits' . the journel of

Egyptian Archeaology , 215-225.

Ramage, N. H. (n.d.). Roman Art. Zayed Library .

thomposon, d. l. (n.d.). mummy portraits .

Wikipedia, t. f. (n.d.). Fayum mummy portraits. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free

encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayum_mummy_portraits
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