Conference Presentations by Hugues Tavier
Journée d'étude "Les sens dans l'espace sacré antique", INHA, Paris, 5-6 juin 2019.
Un nombre ... more Journée d'étude "Les sens dans l'espace sacré antique", INHA, Paris, 5-6 juin 2019.
Un nombre significatif de chapelles privées de la nécropole thébaine du Nouvel Empire préserve les traces de vernis picturaux appliqués sur des éléments délibérément choisis de leur programme décoratif. Il s’agit jusqu’à présent d’une quarantaine de monuments, les autres ne semblant pas avoir subi un tel traitement. D’après l’examen des éléments de décor concernés et des compositions chimiques des vernis, sans en exclure l’intention esthétique, ces choix pourraient correspondre à une solution technique de représentation de réalités olfactives. En effet, les résines employées dans la fabrication de ces vernis se sont avérées identiques à la plupart de celles utilisées, d’une part, en cosmétique et, d’autre part, lors des rituels de purification (encensement, onction, embaumement, etc.) pratiqués notamment dans le cadre du culte divin et des rites funéraires. La réalité, par définition, invisible des odeurs pourrait avoir conduit les peintres des chapelles privées à imaginer une alternative perceptuelle, pratique et performative afin de réserver aux images un traitement analogue à l’usage d’encens, de baumes, onguents et parfums dans leurs fonctions quotidiennes les plus variées. Ces vernis apparaîtraient donc comme un moyen efficace de représenter ces senteurs spécifiques à connotation rituelle ou symbolique et de les associer aux propriétés purificatrices des résines qui les composent.
Conference Presentation at the International Workshop
"ARTIST – CLIENT – BEHOLDER. Dependencies ... more Conference Presentation at the International Workshop
"ARTIST – CLIENT – BEHOLDER. Dependencies and Influences of Artistic Production", Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, co-organised with the University of Liège, 19-21 October 2017
69th Annual Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, Tucson, AZ, 20-22 April 2018.
Pr... more 69th Annual Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, Tucson, AZ, 20-22 April 2018.
Presented by Dimitri Laboury.
The Belgian Archaeological Mission in the Theban Necropolis, a joint project of Brussels and Liège universities since 2010, investigates a sector in the southern part of the cemetery of Sheikh Abd el-Gurna, in a concession including three major tombs of the middle of the 18th dynasty: TT 29 and TT 96, respectively made for the vizier of Amenhotep II, Amenemope, and his cousin, the governor of Thebes, Sennefer, and the slightly earlier TT C3, in the name of the substitute of the chancellor Amenhotep, son-in-law of his superior, the chancellor Sennefer(i) (owner of TT 99), rediscovered by the mission.
The paper will present the recent research undertaken in the context of a project entitled “Painters and Painting in the Theban Necropolis during the 18th Dynasty” (initiated thanks to a Research Incentive Grant of the FNRS), in the unpublished tomb chapel of Sennefer (TT 96A), connected to his famous so-called “vineyard tomb” (TT 96B). It will focus on the study of painterly practices attested in this exceptional tomb, the artistic strategies developed by Sennefer to negotiate and promote his identity for future generations, and the various elements that allow to reconstruct the “biography” of this commemorative monument.
Ancient Egyptian Art Workshop "Artist–Client–Beholder: Dependencies and Influences of Artistic Pr... more Ancient Egyptian Art Workshop "Artist–Client–Beholder: Dependencies and Influences of Artistic Production in Egypt", Reiss-Engelhorn Museen, Mannheim, 19-21 October 2017.
In cooperation with the University of Liège.
Papers by Hugues Tavier
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Nov 29, 2017
Elles sont répertoriées sous le nom de TT (Theban Tomb) suivi d'un numéro d'inventaire. 2. Les va... more Elles sont répertoriées sous le nom de TT (Theban Tomb) suivi d'un numéro d'inventaire. 2. Les variantes du plan en T inversé sont nombreuses. Pour un relevé exhaustif, voir : Kampp 1996.
Despite some rare and well-known exceptions, what usually strikes the visitor on entering Theban ... more Despite some rare and well-known exceptions, what usually strikes the visitor on entering Theban tombs is the level of the damage, particularly to the painted decoration of their chapels. Since the Late Antiquity, these monuments have suffered heavy deterioration which, as well as making interpretation and reading difficult, also risked their future preservation and survival. The tomb chapel of Sennefer TT 96A is a perfect example of this challenging situation.
Egypte Afrique Orient, 2007
Despite some rare and well-known exceptions, what usually strikes the visitor on entering Theban ... more Despite some rare and well-known exceptions, what usually strikes the visitor on entering Theban tombs is the level of the damage, particularly to the painted decoration of their chapels. Since the Late Antiquity, these monuments have suffered heavy deterioration which, as well as making interpretation and reading difficult, also risked their future preservation and survival. The tomb chapel of Sennefer TT 96A is a perfect example of this challenging situation.
Tracing Technoscapes: The Production of Bronze Age Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sidestone Press, 2018
Developed from a paper given at the interdisciplinary workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna,... more Developed from a paper given at the interdisciplinary workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, this paper discusses the original painting construction, methods, techniques and materials used in Theban elite private tombs of the 18th Dynasty. The findings are based on research, archaeometry, conservation work, as well as experimental archaeology. Using this multiple research method and the associated findings it attempts to answer some of the questions most frequently asked about the construction and decoration of painted tomb chapels.
The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 2015
Identifying the material used to carve a statue is particularly significant. A sculpture might ap... more Identifying the material used to carve a statue is particularly significant. A sculpture might appear to be of a hard, prestigious stone, requiring a laborious process of manufacture, while actually be of a soft, more affordable stone. A large part of the corpus of sculptures of the Late Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period is made from a peculiar stone: steatite, also called soapstone or talc. Its specific characteristics allowed sculptors to produce pieces for the lower ranks of the elite. Soft and easily carved, steatite is transformed into a much harder material, enstatite (a mineral belonging to the pyroxene group) by firing. It also changes the soft and greyish appearance of steatite into a hard, dark or reddish stone. Steatite could thus be used to produce statues similar to those of higher officials (showing the same postures, gestures, clothes, headdresses, colour and apparent hardness), but using a much more affordable material. This process of transformation ...
That ancient Egyptian painters used varnishes in the creation of tomb decorations has been known ... more That ancient Egyptian painters used varnishes in the creation of tomb decorations has been known for a long time. The general assumption is that they were used as fixatives or to improve colour and brilliance. But they may also have served a more surprising end – to impart an olfactory dimension to the scenes painted.
Egyptian Archaeology 53, 2018
That ancient Egyptian painters used varnishes in the creation of tomb decorations has been known ... more That ancient Egyptian painters used varnishes in the creation of tomb decorations has been known for a long time. The general assumption is that they were used as fixatives or to improve colour and brilliance. But they may also have served a more surprising end – to impart an olfactory dimension to the scenes painted.
Restaurateur en chef de la MANT Boursier de doctorat à l'U Liège "L'âme d'un grand artiste ne se ... more Restaurateur en chef de la MANT Boursier de doctorat à l'U Liège "L'âme d'un grand artiste ne se laisse pas étouffer par des lois : elle vibre, au contraire, d'autant plus ardemment que les barrières sont rigides… Il y a, sans contredit, une manière de traiter tel ou tel thème qui varie d'une époque à l'autre ; mais il y a davantage encore un style propre à chaque artiste, et c'est ce que l'on n'a pas assez vu. Seul un examen attentif des tombes permet de déceler ce caractère individualiste. Pareille étude ne peut donner d'heureux résultats que par l'observation patiente des originaux et l'accumulation de documents relatifs à la technique, à la gamme des couleurs employées, à l'esthétique de chaque peintre. La photographie en couleurs est un appoint que nos prédécesseurs n'ont pas eu. Il faut en user judicieusement et l'appliquer surtout aux détails propres à faciliter la recherche dans la voie qu'on s'est tracée. La récompense d'un tel effort est grande : l'un après l'autre, les peintres de talent se détachent de la masse des décorateurs d'hypogées ; la « griffe » des plus grands d'entre eux se reconnaît parfois exceptionnellement dans deux tombes différentes ; et le but final est de pouvoir citer un jour le Maître de Menna ou celui de Horemheb au même titre que les Primitifs, ces autres anonymes, auxquels cependant on réussit à attribuer plusieurs oeuvres." (Mekhitarian 1956, 247-8) As is well known, Roland Tefnin, 2 in his own research over the last decade of his life, passionately pursued this approach to Egyptian art formulated by Arpag Mekhitarian in the mid-1950s. Unfortunately, the "abductor", as he is called in Ancient Egyptian texts, came to carry him off before he could reach the end of the long and fascinating adventure he started. Indeed, taking the opportunity of the Mission Archéologique dans la Nécropole Thébaine (the Belgian Archaeological Expedition in the Theban Necropolis), which he founded, Roland Tefnin undertook, with the assistance of his wife Ariane, a systematic documentation of stylistic clues that would allow him to begin the search for artists in the necropolis for the entire reign of Amenhotep II and its immediate chronological surroundings. The passion that animated and characterized Roland Tefnin, particularly his passion for Theban painting, was imparted to us during ten unforgettable years working at his side in the necropolis. And so, we too have decided to keep track of the painters of the Theban necropolis in the 18 th dynasty, so 1 The present article is a translated version of a contribution we made for another volume dedicated to the memory of Roland Tefnin: Laboury and Tavier 2010. We wish to express here our deepest gratitude to our colleague and friend Todd Gillen for his invaluable help in the translation of this article into English. Of course, any mistake remains entirely ours. 2 Cf. his last contributions: Tefnin 2006 and 2007.
Publication of the painter palette OIM E13704
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Conference Presentations by Hugues Tavier
Un nombre significatif de chapelles privées de la nécropole thébaine du Nouvel Empire préserve les traces de vernis picturaux appliqués sur des éléments délibérément choisis de leur programme décoratif. Il s’agit jusqu’à présent d’une quarantaine de monuments, les autres ne semblant pas avoir subi un tel traitement. D’après l’examen des éléments de décor concernés et des compositions chimiques des vernis, sans en exclure l’intention esthétique, ces choix pourraient correspondre à une solution technique de représentation de réalités olfactives. En effet, les résines employées dans la fabrication de ces vernis se sont avérées identiques à la plupart de celles utilisées, d’une part, en cosmétique et, d’autre part, lors des rituels de purification (encensement, onction, embaumement, etc.) pratiqués notamment dans le cadre du culte divin et des rites funéraires. La réalité, par définition, invisible des odeurs pourrait avoir conduit les peintres des chapelles privées à imaginer une alternative perceptuelle, pratique et performative afin de réserver aux images un traitement analogue à l’usage d’encens, de baumes, onguents et parfums dans leurs fonctions quotidiennes les plus variées. Ces vernis apparaîtraient donc comme un moyen efficace de représenter ces senteurs spécifiques à connotation rituelle ou symbolique et de les associer aux propriétés purificatrices des résines qui les composent.
"ARTIST – CLIENT – BEHOLDER. Dependencies and Influences of Artistic Production", Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, co-organised with the University of Liège, 19-21 October 2017
Presented by Dimitri Laboury.
The Belgian Archaeological Mission in the Theban Necropolis, a joint project of Brussels and Liège universities since 2010, investigates a sector in the southern part of the cemetery of Sheikh Abd el-Gurna, in a concession including three major tombs of the middle of the 18th dynasty: TT 29 and TT 96, respectively made for the vizier of Amenhotep II, Amenemope, and his cousin, the governor of Thebes, Sennefer, and the slightly earlier TT C3, in the name of the substitute of the chancellor Amenhotep, son-in-law of his superior, the chancellor Sennefer(i) (owner of TT 99), rediscovered by the mission.
The paper will present the recent research undertaken in the context of a project entitled “Painters and Painting in the Theban Necropolis during the 18th Dynasty” (initiated thanks to a Research Incentive Grant of the FNRS), in the unpublished tomb chapel of Sennefer (TT 96A), connected to his famous so-called “vineyard tomb” (TT 96B). It will focus on the study of painterly practices attested in this exceptional tomb, the artistic strategies developed by Sennefer to negotiate and promote his identity for future generations, and the various elements that allow to reconstruct the “biography” of this commemorative monument.
In cooperation with the University of Liège.
Papers by Hugues Tavier
Un nombre significatif de chapelles privées de la nécropole thébaine du Nouvel Empire préserve les traces de vernis picturaux appliqués sur des éléments délibérément choisis de leur programme décoratif. Il s’agit jusqu’à présent d’une quarantaine de monuments, les autres ne semblant pas avoir subi un tel traitement. D’après l’examen des éléments de décor concernés et des compositions chimiques des vernis, sans en exclure l’intention esthétique, ces choix pourraient correspondre à une solution technique de représentation de réalités olfactives. En effet, les résines employées dans la fabrication de ces vernis se sont avérées identiques à la plupart de celles utilisées, d’une part, en cosmétique et, d’autre part, lors des rituels de purification (encensement, onction, embaumement, etc.) pratiqués notamment dans le cadre du culte divin et des rites funéraires. La réalité, par définition, invisible des odeurs pourrait avoir conduit les peintres des chapelles privées à imaginer une alternative perceptuelle, pratique et performative afin de réserver aux images un traitement analogue à l’usage d’encens, de baumes, onguents et parfums dans leurs fonctions quotidiennes les plus variées. Ces vernis apparaîtraient donc comme un moyen efficace de représenter ces senteurs spécifiques à connotation rituelle ou symbolique et de les associer aux propriétés purificatrices des résines qui les composent.
"ARTIST – CLIENT – BEHOLDER. Dependencies and Influences of Artistic Production", Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, co-organised with the University of Liège, 19-21 October 2017
Presented by Dimitri Laboury.
The Belgian Archaeological Mission in the Theban Necropolis, a joint project of Brussels and Liège universities since 2010, investigates a sector in the southern part of the cemetery of Sheikh Abd el-Gurna, in a concession including three major tombs of the middle of the 18th dynasty: TT 29 and TT 96, respectively made for the vizier of Amenhotep II, Amenemope, and his cousin, the governor of Thebes, Sennefer, and the slightly earlier TT C3, in the name of the substitute of the chancellor Amenhotep, son-in-law of his superior, the chancellor Sennefer(i) (owner of TT 99), rediscovered by the mission.
The paper will present the recent research undertaken in the context of a project entitled “Painters and Painting in the Theban Necropolis during the 18th Dynasty” (initiated thanks to a Research Incentive Grant of the FNRS), in the unpublished tomb chapel of Sennefer (TT 96A), connected to his famous so-called “vineyard tomb” (TT 96B). It will focus on the study of painterly practices attested in this exceptional tomb, the artistic strategies developed by Sennefer to negotiate and promote his identity for future generations, and the various elements that allow to reconstruct the “biography” of this commemorative monument.
In cooperation with the University of Liège.