Female musicians (from original ca. 1400-1390 BCE)

Wilkinson, Charles Kyrle (1897-1986)

Unknown (Egyptian) (after a work of)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1921-1922

Height:

41.0 cm  (16 1/8 in.)

Width:

64.8 cm  (25 1/2 in.)

framed: 42.9 (16 7/8 in.); W. 66.7 cm (26 1/4 in.)

Technique / Medium:

tempera on paper

Place of creation:

Thebes (deserted settlement)

School:

Eighteenth Dynasty (Egyptian)

Description

From the Metropolitan Museum website: Music, singing, and dancing were part of celebrating in ancient Egypt. Here, a harpist leads a group of female musicians. To the right is a lute player, who is naked except for her jewelry. She is dancing, and her tilted head indicates that she is possibly singing as well. Behind her, a young girl also wearing only jewelry is dancing and might be singing. The fourth female figure plays a double pipe and turns her head toward a lyre player. According to an inscription, this detail of a larger banquet was probably part of the Beautiful Festival of the Valley. Original from Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Tomb of Djeserkareseneb (TT 38)

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Arched harp [3266]
Box lyre
Long-necked lute
Double flute [3930]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

4520