I caught up with Charlotte Root, an Art and Archeology major in the class of 2022. We talked about her favorite memory of the Princeton University Art Museum, her favorite object from the collection, how she has stayed connected to art in quarantine, and her hopes for the new Art Museum. Charlotte says that her favorite memory of the Princeton University Art Museum is when the Museum displayed the exhibition Gainsborough’s Family Album , which featured British artist Thomas Gainsborough’s portraits of his daughters. In high school, Charlotte and a friend used to joke that the friend looked strikingly similar to Gainsborough’s daughters. Coincidentally, that same friend was visiting Charlotte at Princeton when the exhibition was on view, so they got to see the paintings together! Charlotte became fascinated with Egyptian art after taking a class in Turin, Italy. Turin houses the oldest Egyptian art museum, Museo Egizio, and one of the largest collections of Egyptian art outside of Cairo. Charlotte’s favorite art object in the Art Museum is also Egyptian; she loves the Anthropoid coffin , containing the mummy of a priest from Chemmis or Panoplis. Over the past few months, Charlotte has only been able to go to one art museum due to COVID-19 regulations and safety concerns. Nonetheless, she credits the Art History Junior Seminar with keeping her connected to art. Visiting virtual exhibits, perusing museum websites, and talking about art all helped her to continue engaging with art. When asked about her hopes for a new Museum, Charlotte mentioned that she has loved being in classes that interact with the Museum space and allow students to be “hands-on” with the Museum’s collections. She hopes that the new Museum will allow for even greater student engagement! Thank you for your insights, Charlotte!
Elizabeth Brennan ’22
Egyptian
Anthropoid coffin, containing the mummy of a priest from Chemmis or Panoplis (Akhmin), 1st century B.C.–1st century A.D.
Late Ptolemaic to Early Roman period
Painted wood and gesso
Princeton University Art Museum. Gift of Frederic C. Penfield in 1908