Greco-Roman Fayum portrait of Psychiatrist and author of books on Oriental rugs, Dr Murray Eiland Jr. as a young man. Commissioned by his son, archaeologist, Murray Eiland III.
He asked for it to be in the style of a Roman/Egyptian Fayum mummy portrait. That seemed very fitting. Created in the style of Fayum mummy portraits from the 1st to 3rd Century AD Greco-Roman period. These portraits would have covered the faces of bodies of loved ones that were mummified for burial.
Quote from client: “I am delighted with everything about it, you have exceeded my expectations (and I had high hopes). I will be proud to offer this as a gift for my father, and I will certainly want you to paint other people for me in the future.”
Mounted into the bands of cloth that were used to wrap the bodies, almost all have now been detached from the mummies. They usually depict a single person, showing the head, or head and upper chest, viewed frontally. In terms of artistic tradition, the images clearly derive from Greco-Roman artistic traditions.
The wood panel has been split in places and areas of paint sanded back to expose the surface and then stained to give the illusion of age.
N.B. Choice of distressed or non-distressed wood panel finish.