DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4859#0030
THE TOMB AND ITS OWNERS
fostered and good-natured men and women grew up and lived together
in harmony.
A feature with which we shall have still more sympathy as con-
forming to high ideals of art is the combination in one career of the
painter's, the sculptor's, and the craftsman's pursuits; for, as has been
seen, the Egyptian artist probably learnt and practised them in turn.
If these two men had been only sculptors, they would probably have en-
deavored, in spite of paucity of means, to secure a site on which their
powers might have been exhibited. Their painted tomb is some proof
that they had been painters also; and the devices used disclose at times
the sculptor's instincts (pp. 3o, 53). Whether they had practised as
craftsmen or not, they were at least intimately connected with the work-
shops, and the precision and detailed drawing, particularly of jewelry,
may be partially due to this experience. The department of architecture
seems, unfortunately, to have been kept apart from the influences of the
artist's training; hence we can not lay on the owners the full blame for
the usual asymmetry and slovenly form of the tomb itself. As to the
actual execution of the work we are, as usual, left without any informa-
tion. Its exceptional excellence, however, would lead us to suspect that
it was kept within the family circle, and hence was largely a labor of
love. Nebamun himself will probably have been responsible for much of
the design and general control, and perhaps for some of the actual work.
Huy, his brother (or brother-in-law), may also have been a participant.
But it is likely that most of the labor was done by younger men, Amen-
emhet, son of Apuki, Nebnufer, and Parennufer. The latter two, though
not closely related to the family, are twice mentioned; and this tacit per-
mission to immortalize themselves was probably a surplus reward of
their labors.
If the person whom, from his prominence in both families, I assume
to be Henetnofret's father, really was so, she came of fairly humble
parentage, quite outside the circle of artists; for Amenhotpe was only a
janitor of Pharaoh in Thebes itself and a temple servitor (two posts
which, one would think, were held in succession), while her paternal
i5
Families as
schools of art
Executants of
the tomb and
their training
Henetnofret's
parentage
fostered and good-natured men and women grew up and lived together
in harmony.
A feature with which we shall have still more sympathy as con-
forming to high ideals of art is the combination in one career of the
painter's, the sculptor's, and the craftsman's pursuits; for, as has been
seen, the Egyptian artist probably learnt and practised them in turn.
If these two men had been only sculptors, they would probably have en-
deavored, in spite of paucity of means, to secure a site on which their
powers might have been exhibited. Their painted tomb is some proof
that they had been painters also; and the devices used disclose at times
the sculptor's instincts (pp. 3o, 53). Whether they had practised as
craftsmen or not, they were at least intimately connected with the work-
shops, and the precision and detailed drawing, particularly of jewelry,
may be partially due to this experience. The department of architecture
seems, unfortunately, to have been kept apart from the influences of the
artist's training; hence we can not lay on the owners the full blame for
the usual asymmetry and slovenly form of the tomb itself. As to the
actual execution of the work we are, as usual, left without any informa-
tion. Its exceptional excellence, however, would lead us to suspect that
it was kept within the family circle, and hence was largely a labor of
love. Nebamun himself will probably have been responsible for much of
the design and general control, and perhaps for some of the actual work.
Huy, his brother (or brother-in-law), may also have been a participant.
But it is likely that most of the labor was done by younger men, Amen-
emhet, son of Apuki, Nebnufer, and Parennufer. The latter two, though
not closely related to the family, are twice mentioned; and this tacit per-
mission to immortalize themselves was probably a surplus reward of
their labors.
If the person whom, from his prominence in both families, I assume
to be Henetnofret's father, really was so, she came of fairly humble
parentage, quite outside the circle of artists; for Amenhotpe was only a
janitor of Pharaoh in Thebes itself and a temple servitor (two posts
which, one would think, were held in succession), while her paternal
i5
Families as
schools of art
Executants of
the tomb and
their training
Henetnofret's
parentage