Detail of a Fragmentary Shroud with a Bearded Young Man in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2018

Fragmentary Shroud with a Bearded Young Man, A.D. 120–150


Object Details

Period: Roman Period

Date: A.D. 120–150

Geography: From Egypt

Medium: Linen, tempera paint

Dimensions: H. 100.6 cm (39 5/8 in); W. 69 cm (27 3/16 in)

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1908

Accession Number: 08.202.8a


A young man with wide eyes and an incipient moustache stands before a dark gray background, with a lighter gray area around his head. In his hand he holds a bundle of foliage, perhaps myrtle. To each side of his head is a figure of the falcon god Horus, alternately with the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. Originally, there were ladders of vignettes with deity figures at each edge; remains of a dark skinned god with a blue crown are preserved at left.

A hieroglyphic inscription at the top refers to the Egyptian god Horus the Behedite, immanent in the winged sun disk that originally topped the shroud; only the tips of some wing feathers are preserved at the upper left corner.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547287