Tomb Painting Fragment

Date1307/1196 BC

MediumPigment on plaster

ClassificationsPaintings

Dimensionsheight: 18¼ in.
46.4 cm

Credit LineFounders Society Purchase, Henry Ford II Fund

Terms

Dynasty 19

Object number1993.80

DescriptionThis fragment from an Egyptian tomb painting of the Ramesside Period represents a section of one register of the tomb decoration which depicted the procession of the mummy and the funerary furniture to the entrance of the tomb. The first of the two larger figures, on the left, depicts a priest with shaved head who holds a papyrus scroll and an incense arm. The second is a nobleman with elaborate wig and long kilt who attends the funeral ritual. The two men pulling on a rope are depicted as smaller because they are lower in the hierarchy, not because they are meant to be seen as children or boys. This rope was in all probability attached to a sledge on which rested the mummy in its case, a shrine containing the mummy or a similar shrine containing the canopic jars. Below the feet of the man on the left are two hieroglyphic signs for "scribe" and "pure". These may refer to the figures above but they might also belong with the next register below. The drawing and painting is of very high quality associated with the tomb decoration of dynasties 18 and 19, the greatest age of Egyptian wall painting. It illustrates not only the high levels of draughtsmanship and design of the period, but also an interesting detail of the funerary ritual.

The support or ground for the painting consists of a mud surface, which would have been applied directly onto the stone wall. This is covered with a fine plaster finishing surface. Although Egyptian wall painting is often misidentified as being in the fresco technique, it was not true fresco, as it was not painted when the plaster surface was still wet. The areas of color were applied in several phases, often separated in time, after the plaster was dry. Fresco painting is accomplished during the period when the plaster is fresh and wet, which never seems to be the case in Egyptian tomb painting.

In Egyptian tomb painting the usual sequence (probably employed with this painting) was 1) The preparation of the wall with an undercoat of rough plaster or mud. 2) The application of a smooth plaster coat. 3) A painted grid of horizontal and vertical lines as a guide. 4) The rough sketching-in of the figures. 5) Application of large areas of local color. 6) Delineation of detail. 7) Drawing of finished outline.

The colors employed were generally earth pigments, which accounts for their good state of preservation. The painting has been conserved and restored consistent with the age and fragility of the work of art.

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