Forensic examination of a fragmentary funerary portrait in the collection of the Harvard art museums.

ABSTRACT: The Harvard Art Museums' collection includes six Egyptian funerary portraits of the Roman period. These portraits are all that remains of the funerary equipment of individuals whose bodies were carefully prepared for burial and the afterlife. One example, depicting a man, is particularly complicated, broken into multiple fragments which have been glued down onto a board. The in-depth study of the portrait used a combination of non-invasive techniques, including X-radiography, infrared-, ultraviolet- and visible-induced luminescence imaging, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to identify and locate particular pigments, binders and other artist materials, without needing to take a sample. Targeted sampling, informed by the imaging process, was then undertaken for additional analysis through

SUBMITTER: Rayner G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10590840 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature