Art Institute of Chicago

Funerary Mask

Egyptian; probably from Hawara, Egypt

Date

Late Ptolemaic Period-early Roman Period, 1st century BCE

Medium

Cartonnage, gold leaf, and pigment

Culture

Egypt

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

A funerary mask protected the head and chest of a mummified individual. Rather than presenting a portrait, a mask like this shows the deceased with idealized facial features and the golden skin of a god. At the bottom, kites (birds of prey) with outstretched wings flank divine figures including the ruler of the underworld, Osiris, who sits on a throne in the center. The kites represent Isis and Nephthys, who mourned the death of their brother Osiris. By extension, these goddesses acted as mourners for everyone transitioning from the world of the living to the realm of the reborn dead.

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