Ancient Egyptian Artwork

8/3/2019 Ancient Egyptian Artwork

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Ancient Egyptian Artwork

The Four Egyptian Canons1. Above is behind2. Twisted Perspective (shoulders are squared the viewer) COMPOSITE VIEW3. Hierarchical in size (size denotes importance)4. Introducing ground line to organize space

CUBIT FORMAT:the cubic format for the human figure resulted from the Egyptians' use of a gridsystem, and the technique of carving inward from the front, top and side views

Miniature Figures: one had 365 mini figurines for one servant for one year had role call each day, so eachservant would shout out instead of the master

Napolean Bonaparte invaded Egypt- Brought Rosetta Stone (founded by Jean Francois Champollion Sean-pawl-yawn)

o Three languages: Hieroglyphics, Modern Egypt, Greeko A name repeated 8x; framed by a cartouche

BA (individual conscience, personality; separated from body at time of death and free to travel tomb during

day, but returned to the mummy during night)- BA promoted the advancement of embalming and mummification- Difference with KA? Ka existed separately from the body, it was the eternal spirit/ life force

Crowns of Ancient Egypt- Bowling Pin: Upper Egypt, southern Egypt I bowl against the current, towards the Nubians- Curly Q Seat: Lower Egypt, the crown of the delta

Embalming and Mummification- (Three?) Types: Internal organs removed OR leave the organs and body as is- placed 7 natron filled linen strips at a time- Canopic Jars: Contained mummified remains AND Gods as animals on jars to project organs

Symbols- Horus and a cluster of papyrus stocks and a snake= pharaoh is in residence- Horus= god of divine kingship, lord of the sky- Snake= combra= power= symbol of the pharaoh= URAEUS- Nemes cloth and ceremonial beard

Pre-Dynastic and Early Dynastic Period1. Women Mummy from the New Kingdom

a. Museum of Cairob. Well preserved, hair and eyelashes intact

2. Mastaba of Ti at Saqqaraa. paintings were GENRE-LIKE, naturalistic in depiction;

Typical representations of the ordinary lifeb. Anxious cow bc shepard if carrying off her calf, servants

foraging waterc. Modified twister perspective: shoulders are semi-turnedd. The fording of the Nile was a metaphor for the passage

to the afterlife. These reliefs combine stereotypicalposes for humans and animals with unconventionalpostures and anecdotal details.

e. Mastaba: chapel next to the serdab, shaft that leads to


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the burial chamber3. Panel of Hessy-Ra

a. Scribe holding reed and ink, in the Mastaba of Tib. Scribes had social mobility, could become advisors, ministers

4. Ivory, small Pharoaha. Early dynastic periodb. Deteriotated, realistically portrayed in the chin, ears stoopc. Artist is replicating what he sees

HIERANKONPOLIS (hire- kom-polis)5. Men, Boats and Animals

a. Predynastic wall painting on plaster (fresco seco)b. Oldest Egyptian mural paintingc. Historical subject manner: the war and unification of Egyptd. Introduces various ground lines (lacks depth)e. Hierarchial in proportion (canons of painting, size denotes importance)

6. Palette of Narmer/ Menesea. Executed in Slateb. Historical narrativec. Ground malachite, deep green eye makeup held in the intewtwining of the animals necks (evil

enters the body through the eyes)d. Multiple registers artist is applying a ground line (organizes the space), hierarchical in size,

twisted perspectivee. The narrative

i. Sandal bearer, most powerful official, follows closely behindii. Bare feet= standing on holy groundiii. Pharaoh is striking his enemy with a maliceiv. Horus holds the head of the enemy with 6 papyrus stocks in the back (6000 prisoners)v. Stacked enemy heads ABOVE IS BEHIND (E canon)vi. Dead bodies in the below register (distinct ethnicity)

f. FLAT because 1) placed on a ground line 2) stacking 3) TP

Old Kingdom

MASTABASTEPPED PYRAMIDBENT PYRAMIDPYRAMIDMORTUARY TEMPLES

-All were solid, some were hollow (Cheops)- The ben-ben, the emblem of the sun, Re. The sun's rays werethe ramp the Egyptian pharaohs used to ascend to the heavensafter their death and rebirth.

7. BENT PYRAMID OF SNEFERU (SP?) AT DAHSHURa. 9 degree change BC in fear it might collapse

8. STEPPED PYRAMID OF ZOSER AT SAQQARAa. Architect= IMHOTEPb. only stone FIRST TIME not in mudbricksc. using stone on a MONUMENTAL SCALEd. stacked mastabas of diminishing sizee. Founded in the Necropolis of Zoser (city of the

dead)i. Funerary precinct

f. Petrifies woodworking techniques into stonei. hinges on the windows were only decorative,

wood hinges replicas


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g. Petrification of mudbrick: build in small stones

9. ENTHRONED ZOSER (SEATED PORTRAIT OF ZOSER)a. Stone carved by stone by Imhotep

i. Dynasty 3= chiseled with stone toolsb. CUBIT: measurement system as dictated by a carving manuel

i. carve one side at a time using a gridii. explains why figures look so block like

c. Wears nemese cloth with a headdress of a cobra; attached beard made

out of metals and precious jewellsd. Found within a burial chamber, serdabe. FORMAL appearance

i. throne figure is melted, bound together with the backing (PLINTH)ii. remains frontal due to the PLINTHiii. not carved in the round

Pyramid of Gizeh cased by polished limestone (CASING STONE),colossal architecturenot isolated tombs but parts of funerary complexes with

o valley templeo a mortuary temple adjoining the pyramids

10. PYRAMID OF MYCERINUS (MENKURE)a. red granite casing / made of pink graniteb. smallest; most expensive and newestc. plus his three queens pyramids

11. PORTRAIT OF MYCERINUS AND KHAMERENEBTIa. Not separate from plinthb. not sculpture in the roundc. faces of the elite: wife took on husbands face with feminine qualitiesd. Minimal incisions, tunic, shallow carving, suggested torsoe. Locked knees, walking but hips are aligned horizontally= unnatural

12. PYRAMID OF CHEOPS (KHUFU)a. HOLLOW; suspended burial chambers (initial design was supposed to

be solid, but plans changed, some parts are hollow and some are solid)b. Kings burial chamber, shaft leads to the queens chamberc. two airshafts, subterranean remnants of initial plan

13. PYRAMID OF CHEPHREN (KHAFRE)a. Built on a raised platformb. Guarded by the GREAT SPHINX (lion w/ human head): Nose fell off;

carved as a giant nodule of sandstone (from an outcropping of stone)line with buried boats and a small adjacent temple

c. Only pyramid still left with the casing stone

14. PORTRAIT OF CHEPHREN WITH HORUS (KHAFRE ENTHRONED)a. Now using STONE TOOLSb. Diorite stone (purple veining tint)c. incised with knotted vegetal ornaments of the lotus (N- floats on the river)

and papyrus= unificationd. Idealized emphasis on face and upper torso

i. incised pecks, minimal musclesii. some pleating on tunic, but just surface details

e. Repetitive lines in the wings of horus and headdress


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f. Sculpture is backed with the PLINTH, fused body with seating area rigidity= eternal stillness

15. Serb (small stone) of Cubit Systema. Not working from nature when applying cubit system

16. PRINCE AND PRINCESSa. Gizeh, Rahotep and Nofret (4th Dynasty)b. Seated on thrones, figure is fused with backingc. One arm on chest (ceremonial pose)d. Womans skins are lighter and man is darkercharacteristic

of Egyptian couplese. inlaid eyesf. Some parts are naturalistic, while others are not (hair puff,

nails)

17. STATUE OF JUDGE KAYa. Scribe, alert eyes, bureaucrat, attentive poseb. papyrus script on lapc. cross legged with tunic stretched and being used as a tabled. webbing between legs, not fully carved oute. Inlaid eyes with pink veined shell= artist intended to show bloodshot eyes

18. Prince Ankh-Haf Sculpture: Gizeh; an actual portrait, higher status is more formal,so official portraiture is more realistic shows emotion; wood and true portrait of anindividual

MIDDLEKINGDOM

Burial Chambers change= rock cut tombs, cheaper and more economicallyefficient

- for example: at the valley of the kings- find a natural FISSURE in the rock and chisel away

19. Mentuhotepa. Funerary figure placed inside mortuary temple; Unified Egypt

during 1st intermediate periodb. Unproportional feetc. osiris posture (crossed arms in an X)d. wears DELTA CROWN

20. Life and Desk Mask of Sesostris III:a. new emotion and personality, realismb. old kingdoms faces looked formalized, impassive; Sesostriss face appears

distraught, brooding

21. Rock cut tomb at BENI HASAN Painting within a RC Tomb: newly birthed calf,

loosened TP

22. Seated Scribe: new posture, knees brought to chest, wrapped in tunic as asurface for H; sculpture was pushed into a nook of a morturary temple


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NEW KINGDOM

23. Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshesputat Deir El-Bahri

a. Monumental Pylon templeb. Built on Senmutc. Faces WESTd. Adorned/housed with..,

i. painted reliefs recountingher divine birth andsignificant achievements

ii. sculptures1. as pictured, queen

as a pharaoh with false beard ( Hatshesput withOffering jars)

e. Pier columns (square shaped)f. A ramp lined with sphinxes lead up to terraces, than a second

ramp to a portico (originally had a statue of the queen), thenbehind this was a rock up temple dedicated to Amun

g. Organic Arhictecture: Two terraces and works with topography

i. Zoological Garden with Aviaryii. Botanical garden with myrrh trees (sacred to god Amun)

h. ON AXIS WITH

24. Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak (5 miles away)a. contains an artificial lake associated with the primeval waters

of the Egyptian creation myth and a pylon temple with abilaterally symmetrical axial plan

b. The hypostyle hall is crowded with columns, carved in sunkenrelief

i. 66 feet shaftsii. Palm capitals and open lotus capitals 22 ft in diamter

(organic flower motif)iii. Between lintel and capital is a square block (appears

HOVERING and LEVITATING)a roof of stone slabscarried on lintels.

1. The two central rows of columns of the hypostylehall are taller than the rest

2. Creates a taller central section = a clerestory that admittedlight to the interior through windows

c. Columns built in DRUMS (setting them on on top of each other)d. Amun= father of monarch at Karnake. ON AXIS WITH

25. Temple of Khonsu at Luxora. Connected with Amun-Re by a line of sphinxesb. The idol of Amun was taken in the sacred BARQUE up the nile from Karnak to

Luxor where the marriage between Amun and Muti. Amun=supreme god of E pantheon; Depicted anthropomorphically as a

blue pharaoh; Father of the monarchii. Mut= anthro. as a slim female with a feathered

headdress in the shape of a vulture or lioniii. Khonsu= moon god, name means wanderer of

the path of the moon across the sky; baboonhead

c. THEBAN TRIAD***


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26. Sculpture of Senmut

a. Posture= New Kingdom Scribeb. Wears ceremonial beardc. Scribe, lover, minister of finance

27. Senmut with Princess Nefrura, from Thebesa. New Kingdom block statues exhibit an even more radical

simplification of form than do Old Kingdom statues. Here, Hatshepsut's

chancellor holds the queen's daughter in his "lap" and envelops her inhis cloak

28. Faade of the Temple of Ramses IIa. Abu Simbel, Egypt, Dynasty XIXb. ca. 12901224 BCEc. Ruled for 67 yearsd. Sandstone rock cut mortuary temple/tombe. Aswan dam flooded, so was relocated 100feet up in 1986f. Four rock-cut images of Ramses II dominate the facade of

his mortuary temple. The colossal portraits are a dozentimes the height of a man, even though the pharaoh is

seatedg. Interior has giant atlantids (male statue columns)

29. Interior of the Temple of Ramses IIInside Ramses II's mortuary temple are 32-foot-tall figures of the long-reigning pharaoh in the guise of

Osiris, carved as one with the pillars, facing each other across the narrow corridor

Pylon temple (cult temple)- Pylon: 2 Trapezoidal sloped walls; entrance- Peristyle: columns but no roof, open air- Hypostyle: columns with roof- Sanctuary

Amarna Art Period

greater realism, curvilinear, more natural, freer ; suggestions of movement; anti-cubic aesthetic

From Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten (religious reformer)- MonoTheism: worship the solar deity RA

o portrayed as a sun disko a god that is not represented anthropomorphically or zoopomorphically

- Closed the priesthood temples of Amun- Moved the campital to middle of Egpyt- Akhenaton initiated a religious revolution, and his art is also a delibe rate reaction against tradition

Tel-el-Amarna- became the workmens city- forced people to move by suggesting their mummies will be taken to Amarna- built on virgin dessert, because it was untouched- rooms were organized when/where the run rose- streets were watered down to clear the dust- two story buildings to alleviate the dust from the bottom floor- lasted 18 years than abandoned- blocks from the city were used as FILLER material in other public works- the E tried to erase Amarna


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30. Portrait Head of Queen Tiy

a. Nubian princessb. husband= Amenhotep IIIc. mother Akhenatend. Carved from yew, ebony wood: hard

i. dense wood from Africaii. probably to match the queen's complexion

e. Delicate, sensual

f. Uraeus would sit on the gold netting of her hairg. Smaller than life sizeh. Remodeled during her son's reign to remove all references to traditional

deities.

31. Life Mask of Akhenatena. Simple and reveals the naturalisms of Akhenaten before Amarna art

period

32. Queen Nefertitia. In Berlin (represents the acquisistions of artifacts by foreign powers for

museum purposes)i. More obelisks in Britain than in Egyptb. Limestonec. Not Egyptian crown (possibly near east crown)d. Elongated, unrealistically curved neck; to hold the weight of the crown

e. Carved by Thusmose or BEK IWTY

33. Unfinished Sculpture of Queen Nefertitia. The Beautiful Oneb. reveals the cubit system outlinesc. modeling of form: light and shadow

34. Sculpture of Nefertiti (missing head)a. Diaphanous garment: feeling of transperancyb. Sensual, indicates movement in slight shift of the hips and shoulderc. Fabric is taunt over breastsd. Knot below breasts reveal tension

35. Sculpture of Akhenatena. androgynous image may be an attempt to portray the pharaoh as Aton,

the sexless sun diskb. effeminate bodyc. tenuated abdomend. narrow shoulderse. wide hipsf. tunic reveals the navelg. Elongated neck that would not hold the weight of the headh. Exagerated and elongated craniumi. Osiris pose; holds the implements of the high office (crook and flayle)

36. Stellae of Akhenaten and Nefertittia. Sunken relief: flushed surface with deep contoursb. Self contained pyramid composition (this is how the artist organized the

space)i. Apex of the pyramid= sun diskii. Rays are the extending hands


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c. Things that identity it within the period:i. sensuality and intimacy as

seen in their glances (informal,kids are playing, within house)

1. kids also look like miniadults

ii. unproportional body parts:enlarged cranium, elongantedand curved necks, pudgy

abdomenomesiii. Uraeus on sun disk

1. Solar god extends itsrays (hands at the end)to the family; giving lifedivinity to Akhentan

d. Cupped hands at the end of the rays,sun god Re

e. An intimate look at the royal family ina domestic setting. Akhenaton,Nefertiti, and three of their daughtersbask in the life-giving rays of Aton, the sun disk

37. The Daughters of Akhenatena. Enlarged craniumb. Depiction of a private momentc. Softened TP, turned toward each otherd. Looks like little adults

38. Death mask of Tutankhamena. From the innermost coffin in his tomb at Thebes

i. Founded by Howard Carter and Lord Conapron (?)ii. Badly excavated: in 6 monthes

b. Dynasty XVIII; ca. 1323 BCE

c. Gold with inlaid gems; gold leaf and lapis lazulid. His mummy shows a bash on his head; married to Akhenatens

daughter; converts back to polythesism39. Innermost coffin of Tutankhamen

a. Tutankhamen's fame today is due to the discovery of his treasure-ladentomb

b. His mummy is encased in three nested coffinsi. The innermost one, made of gold, portrays the pharaoh as Osiris

40. Painted chest, from the Tomb of Tutankhamena. Tutankhamen is here represented triumphing over Asian enemies. The

artist contrasted the orderly registers of Egyptian chariots with the chaotic

pile of foreign soldiers who fallbefore the king.

Random

** The creature with crocodile head,

body of a lion, and hind quarters of a

hippo, who devours those unworthy of

the afterlife= Ammut

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Ancient Egyptian Artwork