Artwork
Deceased Being Towed in a Boat, Tomb of Rekhmire
Deceased Being Towed in a Boat, Tomb of Rekhmire is an unspecified painting by Nina M. Davies. It dates from 1504 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This painting by Nina M.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
These elements echo Egyptian beliefs about the soul's passage after death, with the boat serving as a symbol of the nocturnal journey toward the afterlife.
The painting shows a deceased figure being hauled across water in a small boat, set within a stylized garden and lake environment. The composition includes a man, a vessel, a lake and a garden, all rendered in the funerary context of the Theban tomb of Rekhmire. These elements echo Egyptian beliefs about the soul's passage after death, with the boat serving as a symbol of the nocturnal journey toward the afterlife.
By placing the scene in a garden-lake motif, the work underscores themes of regeneration and the safe conveyance of the dead toward eternal rest. The depiction follows traditional Egyptian iconography of the afterlife voyage.
History & Provenance
Deceased Being Towed in a Boat is a facsimile of a wall painting from the Tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100), an Egyptian Theban tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The work under discussion is Nina M. Davies's painted copy of the original mural. The facsimile entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is catalogued as accession 31.6.44, and remains held at that institution.
No intermediate ownership chain or commissioning party beyond Davies and the Museum is documented in the available records.
Overview
This painting by Nina M. Davies documents a funerary scene from the Tomb of Rekhmire. It shows a deceased individual being towed in a boat across a lake, with a garden in the background. Davies, an Egyptologist and illustrator, created this work as part of a larger project with her husband to record ancient Egyptian wall paintings, preserving visual information from these historical sites.
Technique & Style
The painting employs a visual language echoing ancient Egyptian artistic conventions, characterized by distinct outlines and a rich palette. Bold lines define forms, while vibrant colors, particularly shades of green and blue, dominate the composition. These choices contribute to an overall impression of tranquility and order, reflecting the serene atmosphere often associated with depictions of the afterlife in Egyptian art.
Artist & collection
Artist
The Egyptologists Nina M. Davies (6 January 1881 – 21 April 1965) and Norman de Garis Davies (1865–5 November 1941) were a married couple of illustrators and copyists who worked in the early and mid-twentieth century…
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