This portrait shows a wealthy woman who lived in Egypt during a time when the land was part of the Roman empire. Her curly hairstyle, braids, and bun were popular during the rule of the Roman emperor Trajan around 100 CE. The name “Isidora” is painted on her right shoulder in ancient Greek. The Greeks had ruled Egypt for 300 years before the Romans took over and by Isidora’s time, the Romans had been in control for well over 100 years. She may have identified herself as an Egyptian, a Roman citizen, and a person of Greek origin, all at once. 

People of different cultural backgrounds in Egypt shared social, artistic, and religious  practices. In Roman times, many people still practiced the long tradition of mummification. When Isidora died, she was mummified and wrapped in strips of linen cloth. Her portrait was painted on a wooden panel and placed over her face. Her body was wrapped in a red shroud (burial sheet), leaving the portrait visible. Her clothing was painted on the shroud, but most of the shroud is broken away. Faint traces of color are visible above the break on the right side. This suggests that her arms were crossed and she once held a rose petal wreath in her right hand. Other women from this area who were buried in red shrouds held such wreaths in this position. 

Many details identify Isidora as a person with wealth and status. The portrait itself is of high quality, carefully painted with tinted wax (encaustic) on an imported wooden panel. Her jewelry is of gold, amethyst, emeralds, and pearls. Her clothing is Roman and expensive, including a lavender cloak. The stripes on her cloak are symbols of high rank. Parts of Isidora’s jewelry, clothing, and shroud were gilded (covered with gold), including her head wreath, earrings, necklace, the edges of the stripes on her cloak, and the designs on the wrappings around her face. The shroud (aside from the part painted to show her clothing) was colored with red lead, a mineral imported from Spain. 

Egyptian tombs were often treated disrespectfully in the past by thieves and excavators. Burials were disturbed and mummified bodies damaged. Collectors looked for portraits, amulets, and other valuable items included within the wrappings, and often discarded the bodies. At an uncertain time Isidora’s portrait was removed from her wrappings with parts of the surrounding shroud still attached. Her body was lost.