Representations from the walls of sealed and inaccessible tombs, as well as many other funerary artworks created by ancient Egyptians, were never meant to be seen. However, this is the greatest source of Egyptian art and indeed, as Eaton-Krauss pointed out, ‘a wealth of masterpieces are preserved to attest the inspiration and technical skill of artistic genius.’ Wall paintings are particularly interesting as they are not only pleasing to the eye but provide us with such vivid and detailed representations of life along the Nile.
Unfortunately, since ancient times monuments and tombs had been subject to vandalism, whose destruction was sometimes inflicted by Egyptians themselves. For example, when Akhenaten tried to institute a supremacy of the god Aten, many inscriptions and wall paintings were systematically deleted. Similarly, rulers were also subjects to such erasures as was the case with Hatshepsut when Thutmose III ascended the throne. Later on, tombs were additionally damaged by monks, who took over funerary temples and tombs to use as monasteries, as well as by the locals, who ‘lived in them very cozily with their animals’ well into the 1920s. However, the most serious damage to wall paintings occurred after Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, as the western world’s attention was focused on this ancient land, and pieces were hacked from the wall to be taken overseas, with many works of art ruined beyond repair.
For this reason, facsimiles are invaluable records as they represent accurate and methodical copies of tomb paintings, allowing us to imagine the character of scenes many of which perished long ago. The project was initiated in 1907, when the Graphic Section of the Egyptian Expedition was developed by Albert M. Lythgoe, in order to create facsimiles of Egyptian wall paintings for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Facsimiles were preferred to photographs, as photography was still in its early stages at the time (black and white glass plates were used) and more permanent copies, with exact color and when possible in full scale, were demanded for study, publication and exhibition at the museum.
Many facsimiles were made by Norman and Nina de Garis Davies, who are known for the highest quality recording of ancient Egyptian tombs and other monuments. Due to his vast experience, Davies was able to reconstruct damaged scenes with a high probability of accuracy, while his wife made some of the most beautiful facsimiles of Egyptian wall paintings. Facsimiles were also made by Francis S. Unwin, Norman Hardy, Hugh R. Hopgood, Charles K. Wilkinson, Lancelot Crane, among others.
Sir John Gardner Wilkinson and Robert Hay should also be mentioned here, as they were the first to undertake the methodical and accurate copying of tomb paintings (almost a century earlier than the Egyptian Expedition), with a goal of understanding ancient Egyptian life. The most prominent copyists of the early nineteenth century were also James Burton, Joseph Bonomi, Champollion brothers, Ippolito Rosellini who accompanied Champollion’s expedition to Egypt, Émile Prisse d’Avennes and Frédéric Cailliaud. Many of their drawings were later used for reconstructing some of the damaged scenes and restoring missing parts that were cut from the walls during the century after they recorded them.
It is thanks to their efforts that we can divine something more of the character of these scenes and also be immersed in a world of color and wonder. Included in the gallery are few examples of facsimiles with representations of scenes ancient Egyptian artists created for eternity.
Bibliography
C. K. Wilkinson, M. Hill, Egyptian Wall Paintings: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Collection of Facsimiles. New York:Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983
D. B. Redford, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001
N. M. Davies, Ancient Egyptian Paintings: Selected, Copied, and Described by Nina M. Davies with the Editorial Assistance of Alan H. Gardiner. Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1936