Two Fragments of Ceiling Patterns, Tomb of Senenmut
ca. 1479–1458 B.C.
Medium
Tempera on paper
Dimensions
facsimile: h. 18 cm (7 1/16 in); w. 53 cm (20 7/8 in), scale: 1:1
Classification
Facsimile, ceiling patterns, Senenmut (TT 71)
Period
New Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1931
Accession Number
31.6.37
Art Historical Context
This exquisite facsimile captures ceiling patterns from the Tomb of Senenmut, a remarkable monument of Egypt’s New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1479–1458 B.C.). Created by the renowned artist and copyist Nina de Garis Davies, the work was painted in tempera on paper at full scale (1:1), faithfully reproducing the delicate colors and intricate designs that once adorned the tomb’s ceiling. Davies’s meticulous technique allows modern viewers to appreciate the original decoration’s vibrancy and precision without traveling to the site itself. Senenmut served as a high official and trusted advisor to t...
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...