Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How did ancient Egyptian artists prepare and paint tomb walls?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Egyptian art and architecture
Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, c. 1275 bce.
Ancient Egyptian artists utilized a systematic approach to decorate tomb walls, with their methods often revealed in unfinished scenes. The preparation and painting process generally followed these steps:1
- Surface Preparation: Mural decorations were typically applied to mud brick or poor-quality stone using paint, while high-quality stone walls were often decorated with relief carvings. These reliefs were frequently painted after the carving was finished.1
- Layout and Guidelines: Artists marked out the walls using red guidelines. A grid system was commonly employed to ensure the correct proportions of major human figures, and sometimes for minor ones as well.1
- Outlining: Preliminary outlines were corrected and finalized in black.1
- Painting Technique: Ancient Egyptian wall painting was a form of fresco secco (dry fresco), where artists applied pigments to already dried plaster. Because the paint was applied to a dry surface, it required a binding mediumāsuch as egg, oil, gum, or glueāto ensure the pigments adhered to the wall.2
- Pigments: The paints were typically applied in tempera, using pigments that were primarily mineral-based.1