Nut — The Sky Goddess of Dendera
 
She is the sky. Her body arches over the earth, her fingertips touching the west, her toes the east. Every evening she swallows the sun; every morning she gives birth to it anew. This is Nut — and this hand-painted wall hanging brings her image from one of the most fascinating temples of antiquity straight into your living room.
 
The Temple of Hathor at Dendera lies 55 km north of Luxor in Upper Egypt and is one of the best-preserved temple complexes in Egypt — built in the classical Egyptian style by the Ptolemies and Romans between 125 BC and 60 AD.
This depiction of the goddess Nut is located on the ceiling of the temple’s purification chapel (Wabet) — the room where the coronation and investiture ceremonies for the statue of Hathor once took place. This room was also known as the ‘Hall of Heaven’.
There is another depiction of Nut with the zodiac signs on the ceiling of the hypostyle hall of the same temple. You will soon be able to find this motif in my shop too.
 
What can be seen in this image is a detail of overwhelming beauty: Nut stretches across the entire ceiling composition in deep lapis lazuli blue — the colour of the sky and the Nile. Her body forms emerge vividly from the relief; her skin was probably once a warm ochre tone, surrounded by geometric patterns and wavy lines symbolising the celestial sea. Before her lips, the evening sun, ready to be swallowed up, and in her lap the newly born morning sun, whose rays illuminate two hills with trees and the cow-eared Hathor.
The colour palette — deep lapis lazuli blue, weathered grey-beige, warm earth tones — appears to have grown out of the stone itself: ancient, serene and timeless.
 
The cool blue palette with warm earth tones makes this motif an ideal counterpart to natural materials such as wood, linen or natural stone. It fits equally well in modern, Mediterranean and ethnically inspired interiors. As a large single piece above a bed, a fireplace or in a hallway, it unfolds its full cosmic effect — a touch of eternity on your wall.
The sky itself, hand-painted on fabric.
 
My painting takes every tiny detail into account, from the patterns of the fabrics to the faithful reproduction of every crack and every chipped and restored area. This is craftsmanship of the highest standard and museum quality.
 
The design can also be produced in other sizes. For a custom size not listed here, please email me at mail@anekah.de and I will send you a quote.