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Head of Queen Aahmes Nefertari: copy of a painted low relief in the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir al-Bahri

Howard Carter

1896

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century

Dominant colour

Head of Queen Aahmes Nefertari: copy of a painted low relief in the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir al-Bahri is a 1896 watercolor by Howard Carter, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Howard Carter
When & what style?: 1896 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This watercolor painting shows a side profile of an ancient Egyptian queen's head. She wears a headdress with a long, curved beak and a tall, pleated crown. The queen's face is serene, with a gentle, enigmatic smile. The artist's use of watercolor creates a soft, dreamy effect, with subtle gradations of color that evoke a sense of age and wear. The overall effect is one of quiet dignity and reverence. If you're interested in learning more about the artistic movement that inspired this piece, you might want to explore the Impressionism movement.

The story of this work

Overview

Howard Carter’s 1896 watercolour drawing reproduces a painted low relief originally located in the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir al-Bahri, depicting the head of Queen Aahmes Nefertari. Created during Carter’s time as draughtsman on Édouard Naville’s 1893–99 expedition, the work was intended for inclusion in Naville’s collotype publication *The Temple of Deir el Bahari*. The drawing served as a detailed record of the temple’s then-visible scenes and inscriptions, later appearing in Naville’s third volume (1898) as Plate LXVII. Queen Nefertari, wife of Thutmose I and mother of…

Read the full account in the museum source.