Portrait painting from Roman Egypt

Excerpt from First Chapter: The portraits of men, women and children on wood or canvas found with mummies from cemeteries of the Roman Period in Egypt are among the more notable antiquities from an age which - in Egypt at least - is scarcely distinguished for the quality of its art. They represent almost our only surviving body of material for the study of ancient portrait painting. The best of the portraits are remarkably well preserved and the eye is immediately caught by the rich and luminous quality of the paint. So far removed are they from the conventions of Pharaonic art in the method of reflecting light and of marking shade, that they seem to belong to our own age. This striking modern look of the portraits and the strong human interest of their subject matter make a direct and immediate impact.