Panel portraits in Roman Egypt: peak and end

The explanations distinguish finds, interpretations and open questions. Sources appear at the end of the page.

What the timeline says

On the Met's timeline for Egypt, 1-500 CE, under the second century CE, the text says that "the panel-portrait genre associated with the Greco-Egyptian elite peaks midcentury". Under the third century it says that "the last panel portraits probably date to midcentury", but that "portraits on shrouds continue to be painted in Antinoopolis" even into the fourth century, "with the complex religious imagery of the era". Source 1.

Who was portrayed?

The source does not say explicitly who was portrayed. It associates the genre with "the Greco-Egyptian elite", which is a statement of social association, not an identification of people. One can say that the source links the genre to a particular social stratum, but not who the sitters were, what their names or occupations were, or whether all the portraits were of members of that stratum. The word "probably" beside the date of the last portraits is also part of the claim: the source itself is not certain of it. Source 1.

Portraits and burial customs

On the same page, under the first century CE, the text says that "the ancient Egyptian funerary tradition is little changed, and the dead continue to be mummified", but that the funerary arts evolve in a new direction, marked by the incorporation of Greco-Roman hairstyles, dress, and artistic techniques and styles. In the text read, the page does not say that the panel portraits were used in burial, nor where they were placed. The article therefore does not link them to mummies, even though the page speaks of mummification and funerary art in the same period; such a link needs a source of its own. Source 1.

When: peak, end and continuation

Three dates appear in the source, and none of them is a year: for the peak, "midcentury" in the second century; for the last panel portraits, "probably" the mid-third century; for the portraits on shrouds at Antinoopolis, "even into the fourth century". The first two lie within the site's Roman rule (30 BCE-330 CE), so the article is placed there. The portraits on shrouds cross the 330 line; in the source's wording they are portraits on another support, shrouds rather than panels, and it presents them separately from the panel portraits ("however"). Source 1.

Scope of reading: the Met timeline page for Egypt, 1-500 CE, was read on 24 October 2026. Collection records of individual portraits, and studies of their findspots and painting technique, were not read, so this page gives no particular portrait, findspot or material.