Facsimile Painting of a Foreigner, Tomb of Intef
ca. 1479–1458 B.C.
Medium
Tempera on paper
Dimensions
facsimile: h. 29 cm (11 7/16 in); w. 12.5 cm (4 15/16 in), scale: 1:1
Classification
Facsimile, foreigner, Intef (TT155)
Period
New Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1931
Accession Number
31.6.35
Art Historical Context
This exquisite facsimile painting captures a vivid scene from the Tomb of Intef, a from Egypt's New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1479–1458 B.C.). Dating to the reign of pharaohs like Hatshepsut and Thutmose, the original wall painting likely adorned the tomb's chambers, celebrating the afterlife through detailed depictions of daily life, offerings, and foreign visitors. Here, a "foreigner"—possibly a tribute-bearer or merchant from Nubia or the Levant—stands in profile, a common Egyptian convention that emphasized hierarchy and otherworldliness. Such figures symbolized Egypt's dominance and the ex...
About the Artist
Nina de Garis Davies · 1881–1965
Nina de Garis Davies, born Anna Macpherson Cummings on January 6, 1881, in Salonika, Greece, to English-Scottish parents Cecil J. Cummings and Sarah Macintosh Tannoch, showed early artistic talent as the eldest of three daughters. After her father's death in 1894, the family relocated to Scotland and then London, where she trained at the Slade School of Art. In 1906, at age 25, a holiday trip to E...