Forensic examination of a fragmentary funerary portrait in the Harvard Art Museums

Description:
The collections of the Harvard Art Museums include 5 funerary portraits from Roman Egypt. All of the portraits have been the subject of intensive technical examination and analysis, in part in preparation for the exhibition Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt: Facing Forward (August-December 2022). The exhibition highlighted the funerary context of these now dissociated portraits and showcased technical and curatorial studies. One of the most interesting portraits depicts a bearded man wearing a white tunic with the remains of a gold diadem in his dark hair and a highly detailed face, dated stylistically to around 150 CE. Painted in encaustic on a wooden panel, examination of the portrait revealed that the panel consists of 18 wooden fragments, which show distinct differences in the appearance of the painted surface. A technical study was undertaken to compare the different fragments to determine how they may be related. Non-destructive techniques included infrared, ultraviolet and visible induced luminescence imaging, x-radiography and x-ray florescence. This was followed by sampling of the paint surface to determine the pigments and binding media using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive microanalysis (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GCMS). Samples of wood were additionally taken for radiocarbon dating and identification of the wood species used. This study identified a core group of 3 original pieces that comprise much of the face and neck and part of the hair. The remaining 15 pieces contain most of the background, parts of the hair, the proper left eye and tunic, and are distinct from the core group. The use of Egyptian blue in the background on several of these replacement fragments suggests they were reused from other portraits with similar provenance.

Speaker: Georgina Rayner - Harvard Art Musuems