Tomb Wall Fragment Depicting Abdu and Reputka with Offering Bearers
Old Kingdom, Dynasty 6 (about 2345–2181 BCE)
Medium
Limestone
Dimensions
120.7 × 50.2 × 7.6 cm (47 1/2 × 19 3/4 × 3 in.)
Classification
architectural fragment
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
95583
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Leaning on a tall staff that marks his high social status, Abdu stands beside his wife, Reputka. Such portraits, showing the deceased with idealized rather than individualized faces and bodies, were commonly used in the tomb chapels of upper-class Egyptians. The artisans who decorated these chambers worked from a canon of scenes and poses depicting daily life, family, and religious imagery. Fashions changed over time, but some scenes—such as the image of a wife embracing her husband with one arm...
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....