Graphic Variations in the Valley of the Kings: Annexe of Ramesses IV (KV 2)

Most of 20th dynasty royal tombs from Valley of the Kings have not been properly finished, due to different reasons. The major consequence of this lack of time is that several parts of those tombs have been painted straight on the wall without being carved to give to the tomb a finished appearance. It gave to the painters a larger liberty to interpret the scribe’s instructions written in the wall, and the short time remaining sometimes prompted painters to abandon their ‘academic’ style in favour of their ‘personal’ touch. The scribe’s preliminary work is also mostly visible/readable under the painted signs. It gives us a wonderful opportunity to study the different stages of work in those tombs from preliminary work (which tells a lot about the way in which the layout of the texts has been designed) to final colouring (which is sometimes temporary but has become permanent). The value of this study lies in the fact that it is compared with the emic data available for these periods, with the aim of explaining who worked in these tombs, when and how, and why they were never completed.