Woman with a Shroud
Eva Tolkin December 21, 2012 History of Costume 1
FINAL PAPER: History of Costume 1
“The Shroud of a Woman Wearing a Fringed Tunic”
Eva Tolkin December 21, 2012 History of Costume 1
In the middle of the first century A.D, the Roman practice of painting naturalistic funerary portraits found its way to Egypt. Created for the purpose of covering the mummified, these portraits served as a record of the deceased as he or she had appeared in real life.1 Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire following the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra VII in 31 BC. This period was marked by numerous foreign influences and saw significant changes in Egyptian customs, especially those concerned with death.2 The funerary portraits from Roman Egypt were the product of a fusion of two traditions, that of pharaonic Egypt and that of the Classical World. While the mummification tradition indisputably belongs to the Egyptian religious ritual, the portraits are part of the naturalistic painting tradition imported into Egypt from Macedonia. 3 Due to the hot and dry
FINAL PAPER: History of Costume 1
“The Shroud of a Woman Wearing a Fringed Tunic”
Eva Tolkin December 21, 2012 History of Costume 1
In the middle of the first century A.D, the Roman practice of painting naturalistic funerary portraits found its way to Egypt. Created for the purpose of covering the mummified, these portraits served as a record of the deceased as he or she had appeared in real life.1 Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire following the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra VII in 31 BC. This period was marked by numerous foreign influences and saw significant changes in Egyptian customs, especially those concerned with death.2 The funerary portraits from Roman Egypt were the product of a fusion of two traditions, that of pharaonic Egypt and that of the Classical World. While the mummification tradition indisputably belongs to the Egyptian religious ritual, the portraits are part of the naturalistic painting tradition imported into Egypt from Macedonia. 3 Due to the hot and dry
Bibliography: III (2006): (1945): 52-‐61. 10, 2012.