This mending process was no trifling matter.
We could point to tomb-chambers where every wall is thus inlaid to the extent of one quarter of its surface.

The preliminary work being done, the whole was covered with a thin coat of fine plaster mixed with white of egg, which hid the mud-wash or the piecing, and prepared a level and polished surface for the pencil of the artist.

In chambers, or parts of chambers, which have been left unfinished, and even in the quarries, we constantly find sketches of intended bas-reliefs, outlined in red or black ink.

The copy was generally executed upon a small scale, then squared off, and transferred to the wall by the pupils and assistants of the master.

As in certain scenes carefully copied by Prisse from the walls of Theban tombs, the subject is occasionally indicated by only two or three rapid strokes of the reed (fig.