Preliminary notes Three figures are arranged in a fairly symmetrical, harmonious picture. The figure on right is Anubis (dog-headed, Egyptian god of mummification and the afterlife) in twisted posture typical of the formal style of pharaonic art. He is wearing a headpiece with sun (indicating a divine being), an elaborate gold neckpiece and a fabric wrap with a complex pattern from waist to ankles. The figure at left is in frontal view with arms folded in front, with a face painted in somewhat more naturalistic style and wearing a long wig and wrapped in cloth – perhaps a mummy. The central figure is in ¾ view, and naturalistically painted, although the head appears to be a individual’s portrait while the body/clothing are painted in a somewhat different style, as though a standard mummy portrait format. He is wearing a full-length white linen robe, holding what appears to be a papyrus scroll, and is being embraced by Anubis, as though being welcomed to the underworld. The background is elaborately decorated, suggestive of a burial chamber. Line is used to structure the figures and the patterns on their clothing, and to delineate the background. The largely analogous color scheme derived from the materials used – including gold, red ochre and dark umber, as well as aqua and white –appears selected to enhance tonal contrast, especially between the dark form of Anubis and the white robe of the central figure. By Tierney Bracewell, Lyn Richards, Regis
