Limestone, painted with gesso of the Lady Tjepu, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III from tomb 181 at Thebes.

One of the most remarkable paintings to survive from ancient Egypt, this depiction of the noblewoman Tjepu came from a tomb built for her son Neb-amun and a man named Ipuky. Egyptian artists did not depict individuals as they actually looked, but rather as eternally youthful, lavishly dressed, and in on attitude of rest. Tjepu was about forty years old when this painting was executed, but she is shown in what was the height of youthful fashion during the age of Amenhotep III: a perfumed cone on her heavy wig and a fringed linen dress.