Maker/Artist
Brooklyn Painter
Roman-Egyptian mummy portrait painter, active ca. 200-ca. 250 CE
The Brooklyn Painter painted mummy portraits in the Roman province of Egypt in the years from ca. 200 to 250 CE. Scholars have attributed several portraits to this artist on the basis of a similar shape and proportions of head and neck; smooth shading around the eyes, nose and mouth; and the shape of the ears. Some of his portraits were excavated at Er-Rubayat in the Fayum. As with most ancient artists, the true name of the Brooklyn Painter is unknown and his work is identified only by stylistic traits. The Brooklyn Painter takes his name from the portrait of a man in the Brooklyn Museum.