If certain formulas for the creation of art were followed and the right gods supplicated, all Egyptians from the wealthy to the poor could look forward to completing their earthly life, successfully navigating the dangerous underworld and traversing to the blessed, eternal afterlife. Egyptian tombs were like secret art galleries that were never meant to be viewed. Instead, these amazing examples of artistic craftsmanship spoke only to an elite group of visitors — the gods. When representing human figures in a piece of tomb art, it was important to show as much of the body to the gods as possible.
That is why both frontal and profile views of a body were integrated into one figure. This method helped the gods recognise the person and also made the figure a recipient for ritual activity. Similarly, tomb owners, as the most important subject of the design in their tomb, were depicted on a grand scale.
In contrast, wives and children, servants and animals were drawn smaller, indicating their lesser importance. Colour was seen as a kind of universal language that was used to communicate significant meaning to the Egyptian gods. She was worshipped as the ultimate and perfect mother and wife, as well as the patroness of magic and nature. She is also known as protector of the dead and offered her followers a happy and carefree afterlife.
Scholars do not know where this portrait was excavated, but several features match those of portraits from Er-Rubayat in the Fayum. Egyptians believed that the immortal spirit of the deceased remained linked to and dependent on its earthly body. Almost everything included with the burial symbolized rebirth and renewal.
The point above is displayed well by this blue faience cup, which most likely came from an ancient Egyptian tomb. The vessel depicts the blue lotus, which is actually a fragrant water lily, much loved by the Egyptians. Because the petals open at sunrise and close at night, the flower was associated with life eternally renewed by the rays of the sun. The fully opened blossom on the cup forms the container for wine, which is a favorite drink of Egyptians.
The lotus symbolizes the eternal cycle of life governed by the sun. The gold mask on his mummy which is still in its original condition displays royal attributes, like the Uraeus, which is the stylized form of an Egyptian snake or cobra that was used as a symbol of royalty, deity, or divine authority , that transforms his body into an avatar of Osiris who is the king of the afterlife and god of resurrection. The inscriptions on his coffin proclaim that he is worthy of association with various deities.
At one end of the coffin is a pair of eyes; through these eyes, it was believed that Khnumhotep could magically view the world of the living. As mentioned before, Osiris was an Egyptian god, known as the god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead.
A varnish or resin was then applied as a protective coating, which, along with the dry climate of Egypt, protected the painting very well. The purpose of tomb paintings was to create a pleasant afterlife for the dead person, with themes such as journeying through the afterworld, or deities providing protection. The side view of the person or animal was generally shown, and paintings were often done in red, blue, green, gold, black and yellow.
Wall Painting of Nefertari. In this wall painting of Nefertari, the side view is apparent. Ancient Egyptians created both monumental and smaller sculptures, using the technique of sunk relief. In this technique, the image is made by cutting the relief sculpture into a flat surface, set within a sunken area shaped around the image. In strong sunlight, this technique is very visible, emphasizing the outlines and forms by shadow.
Figures are shown with the torso facing front, the head in side view, and the legs parted, with males sometimes darker than females. Large statues of deities other than the pharaoh were not common, although deities were often shown in paintings and reliefs.
Colossal sculpture on the scale of the Great Sphinx of Giza was not repeated, but smaller sphinxes and animals were found in temple complexes. Ka statues, which were meant to provide a resting place for the ka part of the soul, were present in tombs as of Dynasty IV BCE. These were often made of wood, and were called reserve heads, which were plain, hairless and naturalistic.
Early tombs had small models of slaves, animals, buildings, and objects to provide life for the deceased in the afterworld. Later, ushabti figures were present as funerary figures to act as servants for the deceased, should he or she be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife.
Ka Statue. The ka statue was placed in the tomb to provide a physical place for the ka to manifest. This statue is found at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. Again they used the ideas of frontality, axiality and proportionality. So when creating the human form the artist showed the head in profile with full view eye line parallel with the shoulder line while the chest, waist, hips and limbs are in profile. However, if there is neck jewellery to be shown it is shown in full Figure 8.
Scenes were ordered in parallel lines, known as registers. These registers separate the scene as well as provide ground lines for the figures. Scenes without registers are unusual and were generally only used to specifically evoke chaos; battle and hunting scenes will often show the prey or foreign armies without ground lines.
Registers were also used to convey information about the scenes—the higher up in the scene, the higher the status; overlapping figures imply that the ones underneath are further away, as are those elements that are higher within the register.
Keen observation, exact representation of actual life and nature, and a strict conformity to a set of rules regarding representation of three dimensional forms dominated the character and style of the art of ancient Egypt.
Completeness and exactness were preferred to prettiness and cosmetic representation. The use of mathematics to create the art is also very evident in many of the incomplete art forms indicating that Egyptian artists used some mathematical formulas to create order in their art.
Because of the highly religious nature of Ancient Egyptian civilization, many of the great works of Ancient Egypt depict gods, goddesses, and Pharaohs, who were also considered divine. Ancient Egyptian art is characterized by the idea of order. Clear and simple lines combined with simple shapes and flat areas of colour helped to create a sense of order and balance in the art of ancient Egypt.
Animals were also highly symbolic figures in Egyptian art. Colours of the subjects were more expressive rather than natural. So a red skin implied hard working tanned youth, whereas yellow skin was used for women or middle-aged men who worked indoors. The presence of blue or gold indicated divinity. The use of black for royal figures expressed the fertility of the Nile.
Stereotypes of people were employed to indicate geographical origins. Difference in scale was commonly used for conveying hierarchy. The larger the scale of the figures, the more important they were. Kings were often shown at the same scale as the deities, and both are shown larger than the elite and far larger than the general populace and in smallest scale are shown servants, entertainers, animals, trees, and architectural details.
So the size indicates relative importance in the social order. Ancient Egyptian art forms are characterized by regularity and detailed depiction of gods, human beings, heroic battles, and nature. A high proportion of the surviving works were designed and made to provide peace and assistance to the deceased in the afterlife. Ancient Egyptian art was designed to represent socioeconomic status and belief systems.
The Egyptians used the distinctive technique of sunken relief, well suited to very bright sunlight. The main figures in reliefs adhere to the same figure convention as in painting. Papyrus was used by ancient Egyptians and it was exported to many states in the ancient world for writing and painting. Papyrus is a relatively fragile medium generally lasting around a century or two in a library, and though used all over the classical world has only survived when buried in very dry conditions, and then, when found, is often in poor condition.
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