Artwork
Two Fragments of Ceiling Patterns, Tomb of Senenmut
Two Fragments of Ceiling Patterns, Tomb of Senenmut is an unspecified painting by the Byzantine icon painting artist Nina M. Davies. It dates from 1490 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
The watercolor titled *Two Fragments of Ceiling Patterns, Tomb of Senenmut* was produced in 1490. It reproduces decorative ceiling motifs from an Egyptian tomb and is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.
Subject & Meaning
The image presents two separate sections of a larger ornamental scheme. Each fragment displays a grid of colored squares—yellow, blue, green, orange and red—interlaced with swirling motifs, suggesting the original design’s rhythmic balance despite the missing portions.
Technique & Style
Executed in watercolor, the work employs vivid pigments that have softened in places, echoing the weathered surface of the ancient plaster. Its composition follows a Byzantine iconographic approach, emphasizing geometric order and stylized color relationships.
History & Provenance
The piece is credited to Nina M. Davies, an Egyptologist and illustrator who, together with her husband Norman de Garis Davies, recorded and copied Egyptian tomb paintings during the early‑to‑mid‑20th century. The watercolor entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s holdings through that scholarly documentation.
Artist & collection
Artist
The Egyptologists Nina M. Davies (6 January 1881 – 21 April 1965) and Norman de Garis Davies (1865–5 November 1941) were a married couple of illustrators and copyists who worked in the early and mid-twentieth century…
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