Ancient Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection

Lifelike funerary portraits flourished in Roman-era Egypt between the first and third centuries CE. Painted with tempera on wood or linen, these realistic pictures accompanied the deceased in funerals. The portraits joined Egyptian funerary traditions with Greco-Roman art practices. The upcoming sale of ancient art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, presented by Christie’s, offers an Egyptian funerary painting from this period. Executed in tempera on linen, the portrait depicts a young woman wearing a Roman-style blue-gray striped tunic. Her hair is piled atop her head and she wears gold earrings.

This single-owner sale offers over 60 lots of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Near Eastern works of art. Highlighted is a marble sculpture of Hygeia from the first century BCE. Hygeia, the Greek goddess of good health, was a daughter and attendant of the medicine-god Asklepios. She is traditionally represented as a woman holding a large serpent in her arms, which she feeds from a cup. The available sculpture shows Hygeia standing on her left leg with her right leg bent. A thick mantle covers her left shoulder, falling below her arm. Explore these items and register to bid online by visiting Christie’s.