In all times, and in all countries, we note a desire to perpetuate the memory of the dead; and the pious as well as humane intention was carried out in various ways. The Egyptians enclosed their mummies in wooden and stone cases, carved and painted in order to resemble, more or less, the inhabitant within. The tombs of Etruria are usually surmounted by a half recumbent statue, which although but rudely representing the features and attitude of life, clearly reveal the intention to produce a portrait of the deceased person, but never--which became the custom in after ages--as though he were dead. From the employment of sculptured portraits upon the monuments of the dead, and from the use of other images in the funeral rites, such representations came to be called “busts,” from the Latin word _Bustum_, signifying a tomb, or rather place where the burning of the body took place. Since the majority of persons could not afford a statue, the less expensive memorial, consisting of the head and shoulders, was the more generally adopted; and hence the name now current amongst us. Portraits played a still more important part in the economy of the ancient Romans. Images, or rather masks, made in wax and representing their ancestors, were kept by the Romans in the vestibules of their houses, placed in cases formed like temples, and there constantly exposed to the notice of the family and of visitors. When a member of the family died, these masks were worn by the friends who assisted at the funeral, as were the dresses and robes of office belonging to the ancestors whom they personated. After the ceremony, the images were faithfully restored to their sanctuaries in the vestibule. Another use of portraiture was originally peculiar to the Greeks, but it became subsequently adopted by other nations. We refer to the practice of painting upon a metal shield the portraits of a family--often with the father in the centre--and of hanging it up as sacred to the gods. There are similar portraits extant, in _terracotta_, of Demosthenes in exile at Calauria, and of Thales. The ancients also painted portraits on wood in encaustic, and some portraits formed in mosaic still exist. In proportion to the growth of luxury, and to the development of the arts, do we find the increased employment of portraiture. Every kind of work was decorated with a portrait. This was especially the usage of the Greeks under the successors of Alexander, at Alexandria, Antioch, and Pergamus; and with the Romans, towards the close of the Republic, and under the Emperors.