Funerary Panel of a Manabout 138–92 CE · Study 1971.135

Context from the museum

A young man with a slight mustache and warm brown eyes looks at the viewer from this painting. The linen on which his image was rendered was a less popular alternative to wood. Its delicate surface was only workable with brushes, and not the flat metal tools used for details on wooden paintings. The rest of the cartonnage (body case) the man’s image was once part of was painted with ancient Egyptian religious imagery, like that of the young man Artemidorus. The blended decorative forms on the cartonnage show how distinctive Greco-Roman and Egyptian representational systems interacted in Roman-ruled Egypt.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected overall measurement for Funerary Panel of a Man is 19 cm wide and 24.8 cm high, equivalent to approximately 7.5 × 9.8 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.77:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.05 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 6.3% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 140.5 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Funerary Panel of a Man in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, encaustic on linen, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 19 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?