As part of a comprehensive research project carried out in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and the University of Liège, a global team of researchers from CNRS, Université Sorbonne and Université Grenoble-Alpes discovered artistic license in two ancient Egyptian funerary paintings (dated to around 1400) . and ~1200 BC respectively) can be seen from recently discovered details invisible to the naked eye. Their findings were recently published in the journal PLOS ONE.

There is no known word for “art” in the ancient Egyptian language. His civilization is often perceived as highly formal in terms of creative expression, and the works produced by artists in funeral chapels are no exception.

With all this, an international interdisciplinary team led by CNRS researchers Philippe Martínez and Philippe Walter has revealed painting techniques and practices, subtle traces of which have long been overlooked. II in the tomb of Nakhtamon. By examining the painting of Ramses and hundreds of other noble tombs in Luxor, as well as the paintings in Menna’s tomb, they discovered traces of retouching made during the paintings’ making.

For example, the headdress, necklace and scepter in the image of Ramses II were significantly redesigned, although they are not visible to the naked eye. In the worship scene depicted in Menna’s tomb, the position and color of the hand were changed. The pigments used to represent skin color differ from those originally applied, resulting in subtle changes whose purpose is still unclear. These artists, or “painter-scribes”, could thus add their personal touch to traditional motifs as their vision of the works changed, either at the request of the people who commissioned their works or on the artists’ own initiative.

To make their discoveries, scientists relied on new portable devices that enable non-destructive chemical analysis and imaging in the field. The colors in these paintings, which have changed under the influence of time, physical and chemical changes, have lost their original appearance. But scientists’ chemical analysis, together with 3D digital reconstructions of the works using photogrammetry and macro photography, should allow us to recover the original color tones and change our perception of these masterpieces, which are often treated as static works.

The team’s research shows that pharaonic art and the conditions of its production were certainly more dynamic and complex than previously thought. The scientists’ next task will be to analyze other paintings to find new signs of skill and intellectual identity of ancient Egyptian painter-scribes. Source