Man Making a Net, Tomb of Ipuy

Art Historical Context

This tempera-on-paper facsimile captures a lively scene from the Tomb of Ipuy at Thebes, dating to Egypt’s New Kingdom, Ramesside Period (Dynasty 19, ca. 1295–1213 B.C.). Created by the renowned copyist Norman de Garis Davies at a precise 1:1 scale, it records an ancient Egyptian craftsman carefully knotting a fishing net. Such everyday activities were frequently painted on tomb walls to ensure the deceased would enjoy the same comforts and occupations in the afterlife. Davies’ meticulous reproduction preserves the original’s delicate line work and subtle color palette, details that have often faded on the actual tomb walls over three millennia. By rendering the figure in tempera, he allows modern viewers to appreciate the Ramesside artists’ skill in conveying movement and texture—notice the taut cords of the net and the focused posture of the worker. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Egyptian Art department, this small yet vivid sheet (just 20 by 27 centimeters) serves as both a scholarly record and an engaging window into ancient Egyptian daily life. It reminds us how tomb paintings blended practical scenes with spiritual purpose, celebrating the rhythms of work that sustained the Nile Valley civilization.

About the Artist

Norman de Garis Davies · 1865–1941

Norman de Garis Davies (1865–1941) was a British Egyptologist and archaeological artist whose meticulous copies of ancient Egyptian tomb paintings constitute one of the most important records of pharaonic art ever made. Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, he originally trained for the ministry before being drawn into Egyptology through his involvement with the Egypt Exploration Fund in the 1890...