Alisee Devillers
NINO Postdoctoral Fellow - Leiden University, The Netherlands
B.A.E.F Postdoctoral Fellow - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Kathlyn M. Cooney
Post-Doctoral research: Prestige and Illusion. The Appropriation of the Visual Culture of the Elite by the Ancient Egyptian Sub-Elite at Thebes in the 18th-19th Dynasties (ca. 1550-1186 B.C.E.).
Former F.R.S.-FNRS Research Fellow - University of Liège, Belgium
PhD subject: The (self-)depictions of artists (Hmw.w) in Ancient Egyptian Art.
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Dimitri Laboury
Although Ancient Egyptian Art has long been considered as an Art without artists, it provided us with a compelling amount of signatures and depictions of artists, largely neglected until very recently. This research project aims at studying the modalities of pictorial representation of artists in Ancient Egyptian Art, as an ideal tool for investigating the societal status of artists in Pharaonic civilization and collective mind. By using a non-exclusively Egyptological comparative approach, it should yield new insights into the issue of artists, central to Art History and usually raised in a solely western perspective.
Former trainee at: the Royal Art & History Museum (Bruxelles), the Louvre Museum (Paris), the Egyptian Museum of Cairo and the MUCEM (Marseille).
B.A.E.F Postdoctoral Fellow - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Kathlyn M. Cooney
Post-Doctoral research: Prestige and Illusion. The Appropriation of the Visual Culture of the Elite by the Ancient Egyptian Sub-Elite at Thebes in the 18th-19th Dynasties (ca. 1550-1186 B.C.E.).
Former F.R.S.-FNRS Research Fellow - University of Liège, Belgium
PhD subject: The (self-)depictions of artists (Hmw.w) in Ancient Egyptian Art.
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Dimitri Laboury
Although Ancient Egyptian Art has long been considered as an Art without artists, it provided us with a compelling amount of signatures and depictions of artists, largely neglected until very recently. This research project aims at studying the modalities of pictorial representation of artists in Ancient Egyptian Art, as an ideal tool for investigating the societal status of artists in Pharaonic civilization and collective mind. By using a non-exclusively Egyptological comparative approach, it should yield new insights into the issue of artists, central to Art History and usually raised in a solely western perspective.
Former trainee at: the Royal Art & History Museum (Bruxelles), the Louvre Museum (Paris), the Egyptian Museum of Cairo and the MUCEM (Marseille).
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Conference Presentations by Alisee Devillers
Performative skills of ancient Egyptian artists in ritual context have already been observed for the Old Kingdom (Chauvet 2015). With this paper, we offer to tackle the topic for Middle Kingdom Egypt with, as a starting point, the case of Horameniankhu. In a recent paper (Devillers & Sykora 2023), we showcased the exceptionality of his visual self-presentations in the chapel of the nomarch Djehutihotep at Deir el-Bersha. Here, the artist effectively blends his function as the chief decorator of the tomb with those of a funerary officiant. This case will be the starting point to investigate which other ritualists are depicted in the same tomb and how they compare to the chief decorator, visually and contextually. To properly ascertain the “raison d’être” of the inclusion of these people in the decorative program of the funerary chapel, we develop on their precise role: i.e. their involvement in the activation of Djehutihotep’s tomb as an effective space that enables the transfiguration of the deceased. We will then compare the role of Horamenyankhu within the religious landscape of Deir el-Bersha with other artists depicted in neighboring necropoleis. This will give us an opportunity to explore other relevant examples of ancient Egyptian artists involved in the creation of a “perfect burial” for their commissioner(s), both physically and ritually.
First known as an accountant scribe of grain and a sS-qdw.t working for the Amun Estate in Thebes, Pahery of Elkab later reached the office of governor of his hometown, Elkab, and accordingly became high priest of the town’s goddess, Nekhbet. Furthermore, he was entrusted with the administration of grain for a district that extended from Denderah to Esna. Although Pahery held a provincial office at a period when nomarchs didn’t have the same power as they had wielded in the Middle Kingdom, being named the governor of Elkab was far from mundane. Indeed, Elkab produced many loyal servants to the crown, all of them originally military officers who fought alongside the first kings of Dynasty 18, and later on becoming court officials leading the way in the Residence bureaucracy and helping Pharaohs to strengthen their newly acquired power. The town of Elkab therefore occupied a noteworthy place in the eyes of New Kingdom kings, all the more given its strategic proximity to important gold mining sites. Pahery inserted himself into this artificial lignée of loyal servants to the crown, making his social connections visible in his tomb-chapel (Tomb Elkab 3). The task was performed with strategy and skill given his artistic knowledge. He played on iconographic and textual codes to show off both his singularity and his conformity to social norms, referring to his predecessors as well as his contemporaries and dependents. This presentation aims to provide insight into the social mobility of artists by following the footsteps of a draftsman who became nomarch.
Pahery first held the offices of Draftsman and Scribe Accountant of Grain for the Amun’s Estate under Thutmose III’s rule. In Thebes, he most probably created a small funerary chapel (the now lost TT A4) for his colleague, Wensu. Later, Pahery re-used this composition for his own tomb in Elkab (EK 3). Now entrusted with the higher-ranked charge of provincial governor, he tailored his chapel’s decorum to his own ambitions and formulated a familial memorial working along with the chapel of his famous grandfather, Ahmose son of Abana. In so doing, Pahery manufactured his own social prestige, playing the different layers of his professional background, and displayed carefully his multiple identities.
Pahery of Elkab borrowed elite codes and decorum and adjusted them, first, to Wensu-a rather lower-ranked official of the Amun’s Estate-and later, to his own social standing. This case study is the rare account of an artist’s professional journey. Along the way, he clearly displayed his mastery of the iconographic and textual repertoire that he used to convey specific social messages. The lecture will also provide an insight into the socio-professional networks that stood in the margin of the elite channels.
Unseen-Untold. Visual stories of non-elite communities in ancient Egypt
Historical disciplines have long been studying ancient societies through the exclusive lens of its elite, i.e. rulers and their close circle of high officials. My postdoctoral project at NINO aims to contribute to the recent wake-up call issued by social sciences to redirect attention to other social categories. It is the further development of my work at UCLA, which examines how post-Amarna and Ramesside Theban intermediary elites (“sub-elite”) developed their own visual and textual identity on stelae – one of the less expensive commemorative monuments available to such a social group and one conducive to individual social expression – by borrowing and transforming high elite repertoire.
This lecture will give a glimpse into the results of my past postdoctoral stay at UCLA and the project I will conduct at NINO, as I will expand this research into the Third Intermediate Period, a time when stelae production is intensified.
Far from past Egyptological assumptions, about 700 artists are actually detectable in the documentation and, among them, more than 120 sS.w-qdw.t stand out, sometimes in a very striking way. Draftsmen are indeed highly interesting subjects to observe when it comes to negotiate their socio-professional identity on commemoration monuments, like stelae or funerary chapels. In this context, some chose to represent themselves with a palette at hand. But that’s not always the palette we would expect, as modern observers. Scribe or artists? Or both? As we will see, the borders are rather blurred.
The paper will go over the more common or usual ways for artists to represent themselves to the exceptional cases where sS.w-qdw.t pinpointed more assertively the specificity of their profession. This insight into draftsmen’s visual strategies will shed new lights not only on the specificity of their visual depiction in ancient Egyptian art, but also their socio-professional representation in this society.
Papers by Alisee Devillers
For the English version of the book: http://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: http://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
Thesis Chapters by Alisee Devillers
Although Ancient Egyptian Art has long been considered as an Art without artists, it provided us with a compelling amount of signatures and depictions of artists, largely neglected until very recently. This research project aims at studying the modalities of pictorial representation of artists in Ancient Egyptian Art, as an ideal tool for investigating the societal status of artists in Pharaonic civilization and collective mind. By using a non-exclusively Egyptological comparative approach, it should yield new insights into the issue of artists, central to Art History and usually raised in a solely western perspective.
Performative skills of ancient Egyptian artists in ritual context have already been observed for the Old Kingdom (Chauvet 2015). With this paper, we offer to tackle the topic for Middle Kingdom Egypt with, as a starting point, the case of Horameniankhu. In a recent paper (Devillers & Sykora 2023), we showcased the exceptionality of his visual self-presentations in the chapel of the nomarch Djehutihotep at Deir el-Bersha. Here, the artist effectively blends his function as the chief decorator of the tomb with those of a funerary officiant. This case will be the starting point to investigate which other ritualists are depicted in the same tomb and how they compare to the chief decorator, visually and contextually. To properly ascertain the “raison d’être” of the inclusion of these people in the decorative program of the funerary chapel, we develop on their precise role: i.e. their involvement in the activation of Djehutihotep’s tomb as an effective space that enables the transfiguration of the deceased. We will then compare the role of Horamenyankhu within the religious landscape of Deir el-Bersha with other artists depicted in neighboring necropoleis. This will give us an opportunity to explore other relevant examples of ancient Egyptian artists involved in the creation of a “perfect burial” for their commissioner(s), both physically and ritually.
First known as an accountant scribe of grain and a sS-qdw.t working for the Amun Estate in Thebes, Pahery of Elkab later reached the office of governor of his hometown, Elkab, and accordingly became high priest of the town’s goddess, Nekhbet. Furthermore, he was entrusted with the administration of grain for a district that extended from Denderah to Esna. Although Pahery held a provincial office at a period when nomarchs didn’t have the same power as they had wielded in the Middle Kingdom, being named the governor of Elkab was far from mundane. Indeed, Elkab produced many loyal servants to the crown, all of them originally military officers who fought alongside the first kings of Dynasty 18, and later on becoming court officials leading the way in the Residence bureaucracy and helping Pharaohs to strengthen their newly acquired power. The town of Elkab therefore occupied a noteworthy place in the eyes of New Kingdom kings, all the more given its strategic proximity to important gold mining sites. Pahery inserted himself into this artificial lignée of loyal servants to the crown, making his social connections visible in his tomb-chapel (Tomb Elkab 3). The task was performed with strategy and skill given his artistic knowledge. He played on iconographic and textual codes to show off both his singularity and his conformity to social norms, referring to his predecessors as well as his contemporaries and dependents. This presentation aims to provide insight into the social mobility of artists by following the footsteps of a draftsman who became nomarch.
Pahery first held the offices of Draftsman and Scribe Accountant of Grain for the Amun’s Estate under Thutmose III’s rule. In Thebes, he most probably created a small funerary chapel (the now lost TT A4) for his colleague, Wensu. Later, Pahery re-used this composition for his own tomb in Elkab (EK 3). Now entrusted with the higher-ranked charge of provincial governor, he tailored his chapel’s decorum to his own ambitions and formulated a familial memorial working along with the chapel of his famous grandfather, Ahmose son of Abana. In so doing, Pahery manufactured his own social prestige, playing the different layers of his professional background, and displayed carefully his multiple identities.
Pahery of Elkab borrowed elite codes and decorum and adjusted them, first, to Wensu-a rather lower-ranked official of the Amun’s Estate-and later, to his own social standing. This case study is the rare account of an artist’s professional journey. Along the way, he clearly displayed his mastery of the iconographic and textual repertoire that he used to convey specific social messages. The lecture will also provide an insight into the socio-professional networks that stood in the margin of the elite channels.
Unseen-Untold. Visual stories of non-elite communities in ancient Egypt
Historical disciplines have long been studying ancient societies through the exclusive lens of its elite, i.e. rulers and their close circle of high officials. My postdoctoral project at NINO aims to contribute to the recent wake-up call issued by social sciences to redirect attention to other social categories. It is the further development of my work at UCLA, which examines how post-Amarna and Ramesside Theban intermediary elites (“sub-elite”) developed their own visual and textual identity on stelae – one of the less expensive commemorative monuments available to such a social group and one conducive to individual social expression – by borrowing and transforming high elite repertoire.
This lecture will give a glimpse into the results of my past postdoctoral stay at UCLA and the project I will conduct at NINO, as I will expand this research into the Third Intermediate Period, a time when stelae production is intensified.
Far from past Egyptological assumptions, about 700 artists are actually detectable in the documentation and, among them, more than 120 sS.w-qdw.t stand out, sometimes in a very striking way. Draftsmen are indeed highly interesting subjects to observe when it comes to negotiate their socio-professional identity on commemoration monuments, like stelae or funerary chapels. In this context, some chose to represent themselves with a palette at hand. But that’s not always the palette we would expect, as modern observers. Scribe or artists? Or both? As we will see, the borders are rather blurred.
The paper will go over the more common or usual ways for artists to represent themselves to the exceptional cases where sS.w-qdw.t pinpointed more assertively the specificity of their profession. This insight into draftsmen’s visual strategies will shed new lights not only on the specificity of their visual depiction in ancient Egyptian art, but also their socio-professional representation in this society.
For the English version of the book: http://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: http://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
Although Ancient Egyptian Art has long been considered as an Art without artists, it provided us with a compelling amount of signatures and depictions of artists, largely neglected until very recently. This research project aims at studying the modalities of pictorial representation of artists in Ancient Egyptian Art, as an ideal tool for investigating the societal status of artists in Pharaonic civilization and collective mind. By using a non-exclusively Egyptological comparative approach, it should yield new insights into the issue of artists, central to Art History and usually raised in a solely western perspective.