ABSTRACT
The Egyptian-style masks have gained little attention but, in view of the extensive gilding, may have cost more. In contrast to both panel Portraits and mummy masks, the Greek-style gilt cartonnage upper-body cases extend the frame to incorporate arms and hands holding objects of religious significance. The acceptance of Portraits may have been partly for aesthetic reasons, reflecting Hellenisation, and partly for reasons of economy, if the traditional gilt masks represented greater expenditure than the Portraits. From a Late Period Egyptological perspective, the portrait mummies seem entirely at home in the world of Egyptian burial customs, with none of the daily life objects that Hellenised custom would later bring into the tomb. This Egyptian ‘home’ renders the presence of the Portraits themselves all the more remarkable, as a ‘foreign’ element at the heart of an Egyptian religious and artistic space.
