Painting of a Standing King in the Brooklyn Museum, August 2007

Painting of a Standing King
Mud, plaster, pigment
New Kingdom, Dynasties XVIII-XX, circa 1539-1070 BC
Provenance not known
16.208

The identity of the king represented as a statue standing in the center of this fragmentary painting cannot be determined, but the colors and the confident drawing suggests a New Kingdom date. The scene was probably part of a wall in a Theban private tomb. Flanking the king are djed-pillars surmounted by human-headed ba birds. The birds might represent the gods Shu and Tefnut, who along with Ptah formed the Memphite triad.

Text from the Brooklyn Museum label.