Papers by Dimitri Laboury
Mural Decoration in the Theban Necropolis, ed. by B.M. Bryan and P.F. Dorman (SAC 2 - OIP), 2023
It has often been assumed that the artists and artisans responsible for the making of elite tombs... more It has often been assumed that the artists and artisans responsible for the making of elite tombs in the Theban Necropolis during the New Kingdom were to be equated with the Deir el-Medina crew, or, as John Romer aimed to demonstrate in an article published in 1994, were part of the same administration and under the same authority. This article proposes a reassessment of the evidence used to support such a hypothesis and, taking into account the achievements of the members of Deir el-Medina community in the 18th dynasty when they worked for themselves, it suggests another model to answer the question raised by J. Romer: “Who made the private tombs of Thebes?”
in: C. Bayer, H. Franzmeier, O. Gauert, R. Schulz (eds), Dem Schreiber der Gottesworte. Gedenkschrift für Rainer Hannig, HÄB 57, Hildesheim 2023, p. 183–200, pls. XV–XVII, 2023
As part of the research project “Painters and Painting in the Theban Necropolis during the 18th d... more As part of the research project “Painters and Painting in the Theban Necropolis during the 18th dynasty” (Research Incentive Grant of the F.R.S.-FNRS at the University of Liège) and in the context of the Belgian Archaeological Mission in the Theban Necropolis, a joint project of the Universities of Brussels and Liège, was a thorough study of painterly practices in the funerary complex of the Mayor of Thebes under the reign of Amenhotep II, Sennefer (TT 96), owner of the famous so-called “vineyard tomb”, undertaken. This led to the discovery of two cursive hieroglyph-like artist’s marks, obviously encoding the themes to be depicted on the walls. In both cases, these pictograms are associated with short vertical brush strokes, which in combination with the given semantic information indicated a first conceptual division of the murals. The nature, reading and function of those unique marks are discussed in the perspective of their user(s), i.e. the painter(s), and in terms of composition and iconographic latitude.
Artistes et écriture hiéroglyphique dans l'Égypte des pharaons, 2023
Two hundred years ago, the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champoll... more Two hundred years ago, the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champollion revealed the complexity of this writing system which resulted in a rather low literacy rate among Pharaonic population in Antiquity. As a complement to previous studies evaluating the level of literacy in Ancient Egypt through tachygraphy or everyday life writing, the present article aims at addressing the specific issue of hieroglyphic literacy – or, better, literacies – among the actual makers of hieroglyphic inscriptions, i.e. ancient Egyptian artists. Next to highly educated scholarly artists, such an approach allows us to bring to light many other actors of iconographic and monumental production in ancient Egypt, who developed their own uses of hieroglyphs, as parts of their visual environment and culture.
Stéphane Polis (ed.), Guide des écritures de l'Égypte ancienne (GIFAO 2), 2022
Contribution to St. Polis (ed.), Guide to the Writing Systems of Ancient Egypt, IFAO 2023 GIFAO 2... more Contribution to St. Polis (ed.), Guide to the Writing Systems of Ancient Egypt, IFAO 2023 GIFAO 2, on the interaction between hieroglyphic writing and ancient Egyptian art
Stéphane Polis (ed.), Guide des écritures de l'Égypte ancienne (GIFAO 2), 2022
Contribution to St. Polis (ed.), Guide to the Writing Systems of Ancient Egypt, IFAO 2023 GIFAO 2... more Contribution to St. Polis (ed.), Guide to the Writing Systems of Ancient Egypt, IFAO 2023 GIFAO 2, on the iconic nature, origin and plasticity of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
II. Amenhotep es kora A fara6 sirjanak felfedezese / Amenhotep II and His Time The Discovery of the Pharaoh's Tomb, 2021
Chapter in the catalogue of the exhibition II. Amenhotep es kora A fara6 sirjanak felfedezese / ... more Chapter in the catalogue of the exhibition II. Amenhotep es kora A fara6 sirjanak felfedezese / Amenhotep II and His Time The Discovery of the Pharaoh's Tomb (Budapest 2021) on the elite of the reign of Amenhotep II and the latter's political strategy to choice them
Contribution to the catalogue of the exhibition "Rêve d'Égypte", at the Rodin Museum
Contribution to the catalogue of the exhibition "Égypte, éternelle passion", at the Royal Museum ... more Contribution to the catalogue of the exhibition "Égypte, éternelle passion", at the Royal Museum of Mariemont
Dimitri Laboury & Alisée Devillers, "The ancient Egyptian artist, a non-existing category?", in Danielle Candelora, Nadia Ben-Marzouk, Kathlyn M. Cooney (eds), Ancient Egyptian Society Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches, London 2022, ch. 15, 2022
The article questions the Egyptological opinion that there were no true artists in ancient Egypt.... more The article questions the Egyptological opinion that there were no true artists in ancient Egypt. It starts with a brief historiography of this assumption before addressing the issue of defining “art” and “artist,” in general, and more specifically from an ancient Egyptian point of view. After a broad statistical overview of the numerous data which allow us to trace members of the trades recognized as artistic by ancient Egyptians themselves, it analyses how to study their social profile and perception in antiquity, before concluding on the necessity to re-integrate the concept of artist in Egyptological discourse.
Lost in translation? On "aegyptiaca" in the Middle Ages, in Versluys, Miguel John (ed.), Beyond Egyptomania: objects, style and agency (Studien aus dem Warburg-Haus 21), 2020
As Charles Burnett put it in the incipit of a seminal article on the “Images of Ancient Egypt in ... more As Charles Burnett put it in the incipit of a seminal article on the “Images of Ancient Egypt in the Latin Middle Ages” (2003), “It is commonly thought that the Latin Middle Ages was a barren period for knowledge of and interest in Egypt – between the enthusiasms of the late hellenistic Neoplatonists and the rediscovery of Horapollo and the Corpus Hermeticum in the 15th century.” In this sense, and from the vantage point of this conference aiming at “A Cultural Biography of Ancient Egypt” (outside Egypt), the medieval era can be considered as a middle age or period, between classical Antiquity and the Renaissance. The paper attempts to characterise what really changed in this perspective with the end of Antiquity and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the western figurative uses of and references to Ancient Egypt, addressing the multiplication and diversification of discourses about this bygone civilization, as well as the issue of the loss of the Egyptian style. It then focuses on the exceptional case of some Egyptian-looking sphinxes and lions produced in Rome in the 13th century AD, in order to try clarifying their meaning and agency
Designers and Makers of Ancient Egyptian Monumental Epigraphy, in V. Davies & D. Laboury (eds),The Oxford Handbook of Egyptian Epigraphy and Palaeography, 2020
Egyptian epigraphy and palaeography may significantly contribute to the study of the artists and ... more Egyptian epigraphy and palaeography may significantly contribute to the study of the artists and craftsmen responsible for the creation of ancient Egyptian monumental decoration and, in return, this double discipline can also greatly benefit from a better knowledge of those crucial actors in the production of its own object of research. A consideration of all marks of a work’s history (from its genesis to its decline) allows one to detect—and document—the material traces of the making of the monument, and hence of its maker(s). This chapter discusses those issues, as well as the societal identity of the actors of artistic and epigraphic production in ancient Egypt; the great diversity of their skills, education, and literacy; the social and geographical mobility among their ranks; their varying work conditions, involving issues such as ergonomics and work organization; and evidence of their adaptation of parts of their work, such as standard formulae and work procedure.
Résumé : Acquis en 1905 par G. Bénédite sur le marché des antiquités d’Égypte et sans provenance ... more Résumé : Acquis en 1905 par G. Bénédite sur le marché des antiquités d’Égypte et sans provenance connue, le buste en calcaire d’Akhénaton aujourd’hui conservé au musée du Louvre (sous le numéro d’inventaire E 11076) est un chef-d’œuvre de l’histoire de l’art égyptien, mondialement connu, même si sa forme et sa fonction spécifiques continuent à poser question. Cette sculpture exceptionnelle a été ré-étudiée dans le cadre d’un
projet de recherche international intitulé RetroColor 3D, financé par la Région Nouvelle Aquitaine au laboratoire Archeovision – UMS 3657 SHS-3D du CNRS (à l’Université Bordeaux Montaigne) et dont l’objectif était d’établir une méthodologie qui permette un rendu le plus juste et le plus exact possible de la polychromie d’objets détériorés dans leurs modèles 3D. Tout en relatant cette analyse transdisciplinaire, fondée sur un dialogue permanent entre l’expertise en 3D et l’histoire de l’art du domaine culturel concerné, l’article explique comment une telle démarche a conduit à une meilleure compréhension de la fonction originale du buste dans le processus de création du portrait royal durant la période dite Amarnienne.
Abstract: Purchased in 1905 by G. Bénédite from the Antiquity market in Egypt, the unprovenanced limestone bust of Akhenaten now kept in the Louvre Museum (under the inventory number E 11076) is a world-famous masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art, though its particular shape and function still remained problematic. This exceptional piece of sculpture was investigated anew in the context of an international research project entitled RetroColor 3D, funded by the Région Nouvelle Aquitaine at Archeovision – UMS 3657 SHS-3D of the CNRS (at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne), with the aim of establishing a methodology for accurate and faithful rendering of the polychromy of deteriorated objects in 3D models. Reporting on this transdisciplinary analysis, based on a continuous dialogue between 3D expertise and art history of the relevant cultural context, the article explains how this led to a better understanding of the bust’s original function in the creation of royal portraiture during the (so-called) Amarna period.
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Papers by Dimitri Laboury
projet de recherche international intitulé RetroColor 3D, financé par la Région Nouvelle Aquitaine au laboratoire Archeovision – UMS 3657 SHS-3D du CNRS (à l’Université Bordeaux Montaigne) et dont l’objectif était d’établir une méthodologie qui permette un rendu le plus juste et le plus exact possible de la polychromie d’objets détériorés dans leurs modèles 3D. Tout en relatant cette analyse transdisciplinaire, fondée sur un dialogue permanent entre l’expertise en 3D et l’histoire de l’art du domaine culturel concerné, l’article explique comment une telle démarche a conduit à une meilleure compréhension de la fonction originale du buste dans le processus de création du portrait royal durant la période dite Amarnienne.
Abstract: Purchased in 1905 by G. Bénédite from the Antiquity market in Egypt, the unprovenanced limestone bust of Akhenaten now kept in the Louvre Museum (under the inventory number E 11076) is a world-famous masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art, though its particular shape and function still remained problematic. This exceptional piece of sculpture was investigated anew in the context of an international research project entitled RetroColor 3D, funded by the Région Nouvelle Aquitaine at Archeovision – UMS 3657 SHS-3D of the CNRS (at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne), with the aim of establishing a methodology for accurate and faithful rendering of the polychromy of deteriorated objects in 3D models. Reporting on this transdisciplinary analysis, based on a continuous dialogue between 3D expertise and art history of the relevant cultural context, the article explains how this led to a better understanding of the bust’s original function in the creation of royal portraiture during the (so-called) Amarna period.
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
projet de recherche international intitulé RetroColor 3D, financé par la Région Nouvelle Aquitaine au laboratoire Archeovision – UMS 3657 SHS-3D du CNRS (à l’Université Bordeaux Montaigne) et dont l’objectif était d’établir une méthodologie qui permette un rendu le plus juste et le plus exact possible de la polychromie d’objets détériorés dans leurs modèles 3D. Tout en relatant cette analyse transdisciplinaire, fondée sur un dialogue permanent entre l’expertise en 3D et l’histoire de l’art du domaine culturel concerné, l’article explique comment une telle démarche a conduit à une meilleure compréhension de la fonction originale du buste dans le processus de création du portrait royal durant la période dite Amarnienne.
Abstract: Purchased in 1905 by G. Bénédite from the Antiquity market in Egypt, the unprovenanced limestone bust of Akhenaten now kept in the Louvre Museum (under the inventory number E 11076) is a world-famous masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art, though its particular shape and function still remained problematic. This exceptional piece of sculpture was investigated anew in the context of an international research project entitled RetroColor 3D, funded by the Région Nouvelle Aquitaine at Archeovision – UMS 3657 SHS-3D of the CNRS (at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne), with the aim of establishing a methodology for accurate and faithful rendering of the polychromy of deteriorated objects in 3D models. Reporting on this transdisciplinary analysis, based on a continuous dialogue between 3D expertise and art history of the relevant cultural context, the article explains how this led to a better understanding of the bust’s original function in the creation of royal portraiture during the (so-called) Amarna period.
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
Dans l’Italie romaine, il s’intéresse à la popularité de l’art et de la religion de l’Égypte pharaonique et montre par quelles voies les empereurs romains ont permis leur transmission à l’Occident. Il aborde les auteurs
anciens et les œuvres d’art de l’Antiquité redécouvertes en Italie à partir de la Renaissance et explicite comment, au cours des Temps modernes, un puissant mysticisme européen est né autour de l’Égypte pharaonique. Au 19e siècle, il montre comment la publication des 23 volumes de la célèbre Description de l’Égypte sur ordre de Napoléon constitue un tournant dans l’attitude occidentale envers l’Égypte. Il interroge les fondements de la science égyptologique et, dans les arts, ceux de l’« égyptomanie »,
en analysant les productions de peintres, céramistes, cinéastes, tatoueurs et autres artistes contemporains. Des empereurs romains aux touristes des voyages Thomas Cook, des érudits de la Renaissance aux
égyptologues, de Champollion au joaillier Cartier, de Giacometti à Rihanna ou simplement de nous à vous, examinons la manière et les raisons qui poussent à céder à cette éternelle passion.
This book was designed as a guide to accompany the visitors of the exhibition Tutankhamun, discovering the forgotten pharaoh, organized by Europa Expo at the exhibition centre of the international TGV/HSR train station of Liège-Guillemins, from the 14th of December 2019 to the 30th of August 2020. The catalogue allows the public to contextualise its visit by exploring in greater detail a varied set of themes. At almost a century from the most resounding discovery in the entire history of archaeology, the exhibition aims, through an immersive museology and a narrative and pedagogical path, to disclose the cross-paths of Howard Carter and that young pharaoh he contributed to unearth from oblivion. The public is thus invited to learn more about Howard Carter's outstanding career, his stubborn quest for the tomb of Tutankhamun and the scientific exploitation of his discovery. Moreover, the exhibition will give an insight into the Egypt of Tutankhamun, where he grew up and later reigned, including the daily life customs, beliefs and artistic production in this turbulent period. Furthermore, the most recent progress in our knowledge of the child-king is considered through the perspective of cutting-edge technologies and methods of investigation, before concluding with the impact of this incredible discovery on art, archaeology and Egyptology, and the collective vision we now share of the pharaonic civilisation. The richly illustrated catalogue is structured around the various topics addressed by the exhibition, pointing out at the museographic choices that led to its creation. The book consists of a collection of more than 60 essays written by international experts, who disclose their most recent research and provide the reader with a fresh look at a series of well-known objects, while also taking into consideration several pieces on public display for the first time ever.
For the French version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/15960-Produit-9782875622310.html
For the English version of the book: https://www.deboccard.com/fr/category/16005-Produit-9782875622457.html
Or contact the scientific editors
"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.
Egyptian archaeology provides us with two kinds or sets of data to investigate how private tombs were practically made in the Theban Necropolis during the New Kingdom: the monuments themselves, of course; but also, a rather sizable quantity of administrative texts (more than a hundred preserved documents, published and unpublished, are directly relevant). A systematic survey of this textual corpus allows us to suggest definitions for problematic lexemes referring to various steps of the tomb production process (such as š(ʿ)d, ȝȝʿ, dg(ȝ), ḫmʿ, etc.) and to specify the (chrono-)logical sequence of the actions referred to, investigating which activities were taking place at the same time, how the work was distributed between various categories of workmen or trades (such as the ẖrtj.w, ḫmʿ, sš-qd or sš), in which section of the tomb the work was conducted, and how its output was recorded and measured (with units of length or of volume: mḥ, dnj, nbj, trỉ.t, etc.). This emic approach can then be compared to the archaeological and material evidence of the tombs themselves. Such a combined analysis, complemented by an experimental dimension, certainly leads to some sort of a pattern or general — ideal — procedure but, maybe more importantly, also reveals a high degree of variability from case to case, according to different circumstances, including purely individual factors. It allows us as well to gauge the time-span needed to produce an excavated and decorated elite tomb of the Theban type, from a few months for the smallest to many years for the most ambitious ones, with a rather clear evolution in the invested economical means through time (including within the 18th dynasty). The different types of data converge to demonstrate the high level of specialization and expertise of the various practitioners involved in the making of such tombs, with consequences on their availability, employability and identity. At the end of the tomb making process, the painters —also responsible for the composition and so-called preliminary “drawings” of sculpted decoration — were expert in the art and technology of painting, but also in iconographic matters, showing a great ability in designing complete scenes with minimal information or indication. In this respect, the study of the Vorlagen material relating to their work sheds light on the range of freedom they could enjoy, as well as on differences to take into account between textual and iconographic production for the decoration of those tombs.
The paper will present the results of recent work carried out in this context in the tomb of Amenemope (TT 29), vizier under Amenhotep II. Unlike in many other Theban tombs of the 18th dynasty where different painters are attested, evidence points to a single hand, responsible for the execution of the entire wall paintings preserved in this funerary chapel. Nevertheless the style of human figures or hieroglyphs is not completely consistent but to the contrary shows certain variability in the layout and execution of motifs, that the paper will address as an issue.
The so-called Nobles’ tombs in the Theban Necropolis of the 18th Dynasty do not seem to have preserved identity marks comparable to those encountered in other Ancient Egyptian monumental sites. They nevertheless provide a vast amount of drawn or written pieces of information, meant to be used in the making of those decorated monuments. These indications range from written notes (typically hieratic ones) to purely iconic representations, like sketches or designs. Most of them were probably intended as self-help notes, i.e. as a support for one’s own work. Others, however, are certainly to be related to communications between different actors in the artistic production. The paper presented here will focus especially on pictographic marks discovered in TT 96A (Sennefer, governor of Thebes under Amenhotep II) that suggest a paralinguistic use of hieroglyphic signs as a mean of communication between artists in the decoration process of the monument.
Lead by pioneers in the field, such as Dimitri Laboury, Gabriele Pieke and René van Walsem, recent Egyptological studies have shifted their attention from looking at those monumental image-text-compositions as mere “sources”, to considering the two media and their role in acts of monumental communication themselves. This shift of attention also includes a stronger focus on the protagonists behind those acts of monumental communication, i.e. the people who stand behind their production (artists, clients) as well as their multiple audiences.