6.2

Egyptian Sculpture and Painting

Despite all the precautions taken by the Egyptians tombs of pharaohs were robbed for their treasures and the bodies destroyed

To make sure the ka survived, sculptors were

ordered to carve their likeness in stone

The sculptures were placed near the sarcophagus to substitute for the body in the afterlife.

Egyptian Sculpture

One of the most familiar and impressive Egyptian sculptures is the Great Sphinx.

The head of what is guessed to be the pharaoh Khafre is placed on the body of a reclining lion.

It is almost 65 feet tall.

The Great Sphinx c. 2600BC

Portrait of Khafre c. 2600BC•The pharaohs throne is inscribed with symbols proclaiming he is the king of Egypt

•His right hand forms a fist , which must have once gripped some symbol of his high office.

•A falcon which represents the god Horus, was placed behind his head to remind viewers of the pharaohs divinity.

Portrait of Akhenaton c. 1348-1336•Akhenaton refused to follow the previous customs of his ancestors in the artwork that was created .

•Much of the artwork created during his reign took on a more realistic look.

•Many of his portraits are done more realistically than previous pharaohs and he is usually shown in common, everyday scenes in which he is playing with daughter or strolling with his wife, Nefertiti.

•This realistic style caught on and can be seen in artwork long after this king’s death.

Notice the unusual appearance of the figure of Metheny

His head, arms, legs, and feet are in profile but his shoulders and eye are shown from the front.

Appears to have two left feet, since the big toe is on the outside of both feet.

Did the artist who carved this panel lack the artistic skills to draw the figure correctly?

Methethy with His Daughter and a Son c. 2565-2420

Carving’s features stick to a set of strict rules followed by all Egyptian artists.

Rules required that every part of the body was shown from the most familiar point of view.

Since paintings and relief sculpture of the dead was meant to serve as a substitute for the body.

When artists created these images they wanted to make sure the body was clearly shown.

This was more important than making the image accurate or beautiful.

Rules of Egyptian Art

During the middle kingdom it became to costly and time consuming for tombs to be covered with relief sculptures so painting became to new form of decoration.

Egyptian Painting

•Painting tombs was a tradition that lasted in to the New Kingdom.

Nakht and His Wife c.1452BC•Walls of cliff tombs were smoothed over and covered with plaster.

•Horizontal straight lines were drawn and then figures were carefully arranged to tell a story. Usually a story about the life of the decease.

•Figures tend to look flat like they are cut from paper.

•Little shading is used.

•Nakht and his wife are drawn larger to shown their importance.

•What does this composition remind you of?

An early form of picture writing

Represented objects, communicated information, and were included in wall paintings and other art forms to help tell a story.

Heiroglyphics

Hieroglyphics – An early form of picture writing developed by the Egyptian culture

Vocabulary