Gold funerary wreath

This gold Roman funeral wreath was modeled after acorn leaves.

Ancient Greeks and Romans often depicted their gods wearing wreaths made of the plants associated with them. They awarded wreaths variously made of myrtle, laurel, olive, and oak to military victors and athletic champions. Ancient Greeks and Romans also both associated wreaths with funerary offerings.

This gold wreath, from the first or 2nd century CE, is of the kind commonly depicted in funerary portraits. Fayum portraits, a style of Roman Imperial-era funerary portraiture common among Greco-Egyptian elites, brought together Greek, Roman, and Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife. Egyptians too had long associated wreaths with death and the afterlife. Fayum portraits were typically affixed to the face of mummies. Read more about how Greek, Egyptian, and Roman funerary practices come together in Fayum portraits.