Artwork
Offering Bearers in a Funerary Procession, Tomb of Rekhmire
Offering Bearers in a Funerary Procession, Tomb of Rekhmire is an unspecified painting by Charles Wilkinson. It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
The work titled *Offering Bearers in a Funerary Procession, Tomb of Rekhmire* is a painted scene from an Egyptian tomb. It portrays a line of figures moving from left to right, each bearing a distinct offering such as a basket, a jug, or a tray of food. The participants are dressed in white loincloths, their dark hair rendered in profile.
Subject & Meaning
The composition illustrates a ritual procession associated with funerary rites, wherein the deceased is provided with sustenance and goods for the afterlife. The variety of objects carried reflects the range of provisions deemed necessary for the journey beyond death, a common theme in elite tomb decoration intended to ensure the tomb owner’s well‑being in the netherworld.
Technique & Style
Executed in the conventional Egyptian canon, the figures are rendered with flat, two‑dimensional forms, bold outlines, and a limited palette of bright colors against a light beige background. The strict profile view, combined with a hierarchical scale that gives each bearer equal visual weight, exemplifies the formal visual language of New Kingdom tomb painting.
History & Provenance
The scene forms part of the decorative program of the tomb of Rekhmire, a high official of the 18th Dynasty. The painting remains in situ within the tomb complex, and its documentation has been included in scholarly surveys of Egyptian funerary art. It has not been removed for exhibition, preserving its original archaeological context.
Artist & collection
Artist
Egyptian artists carved lively scenes on tomb walls to keep the dead company. Wilkinson’s bundle offers five such reliefs, from a falcon guarding a pharaoh to wine presses and chariots left behind for the next world.…
