A Painter's Version: Amenhotep, Son of Amunnakhte and Pictorial Tradition. Issue 1 (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bács, Tamás A.
• Is Part Of: Journal of Egyptian archaeology. Volume 107:Issue 1/2(2021)
• Page Start: 41
• Page End: 56
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: Amenhotep -- decorum -- figural ostraca -- Deir el-Medina -- painting; Egypt -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Antiquities; Egypt; Archäologie; Ägypten; Égypte -- Antiquités -- Périodiques; 6.140; Periodicals; Zeitschrift; Online-Publikation; Electronic journals; 932.005
• DOI: 10.1177/03075133211059198
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0307-5133

Abstract

Arguably one of the most remarkable painters/draughtsmen, not only in his direct surroundings of Deir el-Medina but in the history of New Kingdom painting altogether, the Chief Draughtsman Amenhotep, son of Amunnakhte has left us a substantial body of identifiable work. His artistic output includes royal and private tomb-chapels augmented by a corpus of figured ostraca numbering at 24 known pieces. It follows then that the many different types of artwork contained in his production provide an especially rich opportunity for exploring art historical themes of particular import and can inform our understanding of these in significant ways. Moving away from the habitually confronted modern reading of decorum as a manacle of artistic freedom, this contribution aims at drawing attention to how decorum seems to have been seen in essentially positive terms, an inference cognate with what transpires from the study of the works of Amenhotep.