In the mastabas colours are applied to figures in relief. It is not till we reach the first Theban Empire, in the tombs at Beni-Hassan, that we find real paintings in which the brush alone has been used.
Fig. 265.—Painting at Beni-Hassan. Champollion, pl. 374.
We have already described the style and character of the paintings at Beni-Hassan. In most cases the outlines prepared for the painter do not differ from those meant for the sculptor.
We have already reproduced many works in outline in which there is nothing to show whether they are paintings or bas-reliefs. Their execution is almost identical (see Figs. [2], [5], [25], [98], [170], Vol. I.; Figs. [25], [26], [31], Vol. II). It is the same with the two wrestling scenes which we take from the frescos in which all the gymnastic exercises then in vogue are represented (Figs. [265] and [266]), and with the charming group formed by an antelope and a man stroking his muzzle (Fig. [267]).
Fig. 266.—Painting at Beni-Hassan. Champollion, pl. 371.
Fig. 267.—Painting at Beni-Hassan. Champollion, pl. 359.