Painted Shroud Fragment

Unknown

1st century BC–1st century AD · Linen, gesso, paint · Egyptian Art

As wife and sister of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys were twinned in funerary beliefs. These heads of the two goddesses, 66.99.140 and 66.99.141, come from a single linen shroud, which probably showed them raising their arms in a gesture of care and reverence on either side of the frontal, mummified image of Osiris. When wrapped about the mummy, the images on the shroud would have identified the deceased with Osiris and placed him or her under the protection of the goddesses. Although they are no longer distinguished from one another by any sufficiently preserved attribute, the two goddesses would have originally worn their different symbols atop the modius on the head. One goddess is a deep green below the head, a color associated with rebirth/afterlife divinities but also more widely used by this time.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st century BC–1st century AD

Medium

Linen, gesso, paint

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Fletcher Fund and The Guide Foundation Inc. Gift, 1966