Relief with Blind Harpist

between 1350 and 1300 BCE

Egyptian

On View

African, Level 1, North Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title Relief with Blind Harpist

Artwork Date between 1350 and 1300 BCE

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Egyptian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Egyptian

Medium Carved limestone

Dimensions Overall: 18 1/2 × 14 1/8 × 1 1/2 inches (47 × 35.9 × 3.8 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department African Art

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Ancient Art General Fund, Abraham Borman Family Fund, Joseph H. Boyer Memorial Fund, K. T. Keller Fund, Laura H. Murphy Fund, Barbara L. Scripps Fund, Edna Burian Skelton Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad H. Smith Memorial Fund, Matilda R. Wilson Fund, Cleo and Lester Gruber Fund, Hill Memorial Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 1986.103

Markings

Inscriptions Inscribed, seven vertical columns, top of fragment [only part of original inscription remains]: [translation: …your following when they take the reins on the ground; every road is traversed (?) | …in (?) | …you have spoken(?), your mouth | …by the stem-priest and lector priest | …Wen-nefer | …praised, rejoicing, making… | …at the Island of the Just, after he has reached god’s land. May you arise daily at dawn to see Re when he places himself | on the horizon of the sky (?)]

Provenance

Collection Frederick Stafford. (Safani Gallery)

1986-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Egypt’s Golden Age. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Houston Museum of Natural Science, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Boston, 1982, pp. 256-258 (ill.), cat. no. 362.

Odyssey of an Art Collector: Unity in Diversity-5000 Years of Art. Exh. cat., Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Stafford Collection. 1966, p. 42, cat. no. 68.

Eye for Eye, Egyptian Images and Inscriptions. Exh. cat. 1977, cat. no. 39.

Calendar of Events. New Orleans Museum of Art. March 1977, (ill.).

Goedicke, Hans. "A "New" Relief Showing a Blind Harpist," Societe D'Egyptologie, Geneva, no. 7 (1982): pp. 33-38 (ill.).

Simpson, William Kelly. "A New Kingdom Relief of a Harper and His Song," in Philology in Honor of Ronald James Williams, ed. Kadish, G. E. and G. E. Freeman. Toronto, 1982, pp. 133-137 (ill.).

Ziegler, Christine, et al. Egypt's Golden Age: The Art of Living in the New Kingdom 1558-1085 B.C., Brovarski, ed. 1982, pp. 256-258, 309, cat. no. 362. [frontispiece ill.].

"La Chronique des Arts: Principales Acquisitions des Musees en 1986,” GdBA, no. 1418. (March 1987): p. 19, cat. no. 117.

Bulletin of the DIA 63, no. 1 and 2. 1987, pp. 13-14, 29.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Egyptian, Relief with Blind Harpist, between 1350 and 1300 BCE, carved limestone. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Ancient Art General Fund, Abraham Borman Family Fund, et al., 1986.103.