Amenhotep III and his Mother, Mutemwia, in a Kiosk

Art Historical Context

Welcome to the Egyptian Art galleries, where we encounter a vivid window into ancient royalty through this stunning facsimile, *Amenhotep III and his, Mutemwia, in a Kiosk*. Created 1914 by the artist Nina de Garis, this life-size tempera-on-paper reproduction (91⅝ × 64 inches) faithfully captures a New Kingdom wall painting from around 1390–1352 B.C., during Egypt's Dynasty 18. The original likely adorned a temple or tomb, depicting Pharaoh Amenhotep III seated on a throne beside his mother, Queen Mutemwia, within an elegant kiosk—a shaded pavilion symbolizing divine protection and royal splendor. Surrounding hieroglyphs and intricate details highlight their divine status, with thrones, regal attire, and symbolic motifs evoking power and piety. Amenhotep III's reign marked the zenith of Egypt's imperial golden age, a time of peace, prosperity, and monumental architecture like the Luxor Temple. Such scenes celebrated the pharaoh's divine lineage, with Mutemwia, a key figure as wife of Thutmose IV, underscoring maternal influence in royal ideology. Davies, renowned for her meticulous copies of Theban tomb paintings, used tempera to revive the original's brilliant colors—ochres, blues, and golds—that time has faded on ancient walls. Acquired via the Rogers Fund in 1915, this 1:1 scale masterpiece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art preserves Egypt's artistic legacy for modern eyes, blending 20th-century precision with 3,300-year-old grandeur. A true bridge across millennia!

About the Artist

Nina de Garis Davies · 1881–1965

Nina de Garis Davies, born Anna Macpherson Cummings on January 6, 1881, in Salonika, Greece, to English-Scottish parents Cecil J. Cummings and Sarah Macintosh Tannoch, showed early artistic talent as the eldest of three daughters. After her father's death in 1894, the family relocated to Scotland and then London, where she trained at the Slade School of Art. In 1906, at age 25, a holiday trip to E...