Woman with Pearl Earrings

The artwork

Analysis of the mummies has proved it: the age and sex of the painted faces match those of the dead. So this woman really looked like this. You receive it printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• The dark hair gathered up, the large eyes, the pearl earrings and the necklace.
• A radiant face that lights up a bedroom or a living room.
• A gift for someone dear, or for anyone who loves ancient art.

We do not know her name. She lived in Egypt when the country was a province of Rome, between the first and third centuries AD, the years when families had the faces of their loved ones painted on a thin wooden panel. At death the panel was placed over the mummy's face among the bandages. These are the portraits we call Fayum portraits, after the region of Egypt where many were found, and fewer than a thousand survive in the whole world.

The painter worked to make her recognisable. The eyes are large and dark, underlined by sharp eyebrows; the pearls at her ears and the necklace say that she belonged to a wealthy family. The light falls softly on the face and neck, and the shadows give volume to the features, following the tradition of Greek painting.

In a bedroom or a living room it brings home the face of a woman who lived almost two thousand years ago. It is a gift for someone dear, or for anyone who loves portraits that seem to speak.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
With frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass