Howard Carter: Famous Archaeologist, Not-So-Famous Painter
Didn’t know he was an artist too? "Tut tut!"
- By K. Annabelle Smith
- Smithsonian.com, May 09, 2012
It isn’t often that we hear anything about English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter other than this groundbreaking discovery of King Tut's chamber on November 4, 1922. But as we celebrate Carter’s 138th birthday, we also look to his lesser-known talent as an artist.
((c) Griffith Insititute, University of Oxford)
Though this species of ibex would’ve been relatively common in ancient Egypt along the Nile Valley, it’s quickly approaching extinction today. Its image lives on in depictions in rock art like this one copied from an unknown tomb. According to the Griffith Institute, Carter’s copy of the tomb painting is quite realistic. It is this talent for capturing detail that often goes unnoticed in Carter’s biography, says Fleming.
“I think most people automatically, think “King Tut” when they hear Carter’s name,” Fleming says. “All of his other talents seem to be quite secondary.”
Comments (3)
This is beautifully rendered, I'm glad this information is now known to us.
Posted by Sarah Jones on May 14,2012 | 09:23 PM
A lovely article, thank you for posting it. A correction: The word is "hieroglyphs," not "hieroglyphics." "Hieroglyphic" is the adjective form, "hieroglyph" is the noun.
Posted by Susannah Challis on May 13,2012 | 05:50 PM
He did a very good job at recreating the images...I never knew he was artistically talented as well...Thanks for sharing.
Posted by ReadingScientist on May 9,2012 | 09:08 PM