Portrait of an elderly woman in tempera on wood, perhaps sycomore fig: this covered the face of an embalmed person wrapped as a mummy. The panel is broken at the upper right edge and in places down the right side. Traces of black paint appear on the lower right edge of the panel; where the paint has been removed to the centre left, a cream wash remains. The background is grey.

The subject wears a light terracotta tunic and a mantle, the latter draped over her proper left shoulder and around the neck. The clavi are painted in black on a brown ground; the left clavus has been misunderstood and extends over the mantle. Also misunderstood are the shoulder seams of the tunic, which appear as rows of dots on the mantle. In her hair the woman wears a band of terracotta wool, matching the mantle. The straight hair, painted in black and white on a brown ground, is parted centrally and brushed around the face and towards the back of the head in casual fashion.

The subject's face is bony, irregular in shape, sallow in complexion and marked by lines of ageing. The heavy brows are painted in black and brown. The huge brown eyes have individually indicated lashes. The long nose is highlighted in white. The thick lips are twisted, with the knotted brow giving the impression of an anxious scowl. Age lines also appear on the neck.