Portrait of Mrs. Tjepu
| Portrait of Mrs. Tjepu | |
|---|---|
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| material | Limestone, plaster, paint |
| Dimensions | H. 36.7 cm; W. 24 cm; |
| origin | Thebes , necropolis , grave 181 |
| time | New Kingdom , Dynasty 18 , 1390 to 1353 BC Chr. |
| place | New York , Brooklyn Museum , Brooklyn 65,197 |
The portrait of Mrs. Tjepu is a detail from an originally larger fresco from grave 181 in Thebes . It dates from the time of the reign of Pharaoh Amenophis III.
The portrait of Mrs. Tjepu shows an elegantly dressed woman adorned with a lot of jewelry. She holds her head up and looks forward, she has bent and raised her right arm, and holds her left arm down to hip height. She holds a menit in her left hand . Her white robe is slightly translucent, so that you can see through the body in some places. The stately wig is finely crafted and Tjepu wears a wreath of flowers on it. In a small cone-shaped perfumed vessel ( ointment cone ) on the head there is fat. It is a symbol that shows that they belong to the upper class. The name of the sitter and her function as "mistress of the house" are inscribed behind the head.
The overall picture showed Tjepu behind her son, the sculptor Nebimen (Nebamun). The depiction of the mother at this point is unusual, as it usually shows the wife of the grave owner. The depiction probably testifies to a particularly close connection between the two depicted. The free space for the mother was probably possible because Nebimen married the widow of the sculptor Ipuki , whose grave he shared and who was already depicted by Ipuki. Son and mother stand in front of a shrine, where they offer sacrifices for the beautiful festival in the desert valley in honor of the god Amun . According to tradition, Tjepu is not shown according to its real age, but in an idealized young form.
The image is dated to the late 18th dynasty, the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Dated (1390–1353 BC). The clothing of the Tjepu also corresponds to the fashion of the late 18th dynasty. The painting was applied to the plaster used to straighten the walls of the tomb. The portrait came to the Brooklyn Museum in 1916 with the collection of Charles Edwin Wilbour , where it is now one of the showpieces of the Ancient Egyptian Collection (inventory number 65.197). It was the cover picture of the catalog of the collection from 1999 and adorned the title of the catalog that was brought out on the occasion of a special exhibition of pieces from the Brooklyn collection in Berlin in 1976.
literature
- Painting of the Woman Tjepu. In: Richard A. Fazzani, James F. Romano, Madeleine E. Cody: Art for Eternity. Masterworks from ancient Egypt. Brooklyn Museum of Art / Scala Publishers, New York 1999, ISBN 0-87273-139-1 , p. 90.