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Egyptian Art - An Overview
by Jose-Pierre Estrada and Melanie Magdalena
A Companion Guide to Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Global History (13th edition)
There is more to Egypt than the pyramids left behind thousands of years ago. Egyptian art is easily recognizable: in paintings, heads are turned to the side, chests face forward, and hips and legs face the side; sculptures show rigid stylized pharaohs. Hieroglyphs accompany almost all art. Here, we will take a brief look at the most outstanding pieces of art produced during the Dynasties starting with King Narmer all the way up to Tutankhamen.
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| Map of Ancient Egypt |
The Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods
The Palette of King Narmer is a flat slate slab, carved on two sides that commemorates unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. King Narmer’s divine power is conveyed with his image on the front as two felines with elongated intertwined necks. On the back Narmer wears a “bowling-pin-shaped crown” that becomes the standard style signifying “the inevitable triumph of the Egyptian god-kings over enemies” (Gardner 56).
Egyptian conventions of representation: composite views (profile with twisted torso), heraldic symbols, registers and hierarchical scale.
Palette of King Narmer (left, back; right, front), from Hierakonpolis, Egypt, Predynastic, ca. 3000–2920 BCE. Slate, approx. 2’ 1” high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
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The Old Kingdom
The seated statue of Khafre Enthroned is one of a series of carved statues. Khafre Enthroned statue is a diorite portrait of himself sitting upright wearing a kilt the royal linen nemes headdress with the uraeus cobra of kingship on the front. The sculptor creates the statue to maintain a solid portrait, so the statue can “last for eternity and a time less after life.”
Egyptian conventions of representation: uniform style, idealized, generalized with squared-off, closed forms, and bilateral symmetry.
Khafre enthroned, from Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, ca. 2520–2494 BCE. Diorite, 5’6” high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
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The Statue of Menkaure and one of his wives, possibly Khamerernebty is another style of portraying the human figure. A person or a deity is portrayed standing, either alone or with others, the Menkaure and Khamerernebty sculpture is an example of double portrait. The statue is a high-relief sculpture because the bodies remain wedded to the block from which they are carved. A double portrait between a man and a woman signifies that they are married.
Egyptians conventions of representation: uniform style, idealized, generalized with squared-off, closed forms, double portrait, and bilateral symmetry.
Menkaure and Khamerernebty (?), from Gizeh, Egypt, Dynasty IV, ca. 2490–2472 BCE. Graywacke, approx. 4’ 6 1/2” high. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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The Seated Scribe is a painted statuary in the seated position. The facial expression and the color that is painted on the statue makes it seem more lifelike. The scribe's body shows that it is a non-elite because a royal body would not be depicted with a large belly or sagging chest muscles.
Egyptian conventions of representation: less rigid conventions for subjects of lesser status.
Seated scribe (Kay?), from his mastaba at Saqqara, Egypt, Dynasty V, ca. 2450–2350 BCE. Painted limestone, approx. 1’ 9” high. Louvre, Paris.
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Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt is a painted tomb relief that depicts metaphor for triumph over evil. Ti is depicted as a giant because it reflects his higher rank over the hunters.
Egyptian conventions of representation: uses two styles - formal and idealized vs. conception and naturalistic.
Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt, relief in the mastaba of Ti, Saqqara, Egypt, Dynasty V, ca. 2450–2350 BCE. Painted limestone, hunting scene approx. 4’ high.
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The Middle Kingdom
The fragmentary head of Senusret III reflects realism - the king’s expression now holds a strong mood rather than the previous passive expressions. The pessimistic emotion also reflects the political instability of the period.
Fragmentary head of Sensuret III, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1860 BCE. Red quartzite, 6.5” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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The New Kingdom
Artwork of Hatsheput is scarce. She self-proclaimed herself as pharaoh after the death of Thutmose II (the fourth pharaoh). Her son, Thutmose III destroyed all of her portraits later during the reign for reasons unknown. She ruled the powerful and prosperous empire for two decades. The reconstructed figure shows her with male attributes, a false she-pharaoh.
Hatshepsut with offering jars, from the upper court of her mortuary temple, Deir el-Bahri, Egypt, ca. 1473–1458 BCE. Red granite, approx. 8’ 6” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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Egyptian art is visible in frescoes and sunken reliefs in temples across the territory. An excellent example are the carvings of the hypostyle hall in Karnak. Columns were used as “image- and message-bearing surfaces.”
Hypostyle hall, temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, Dynasty XIX, ca. 1290–1224 BCE.
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Block statues became very popular during the New Kingdom. These statues further simplified the Old Kingdom styles. Senmut with Princess Nefrua displays Hatsheput’s chancellor holding her daughter on his lap.
Senmut with Princess Nefrua, from Thebes, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1470–1460 BCE. Granite, approx. 3’ 1/2” high. Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin.
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The Fowling Scene depicts the deceased Nebamun and his wife and daughter. The fresco shows Nebamun enjoying recreation even in his eternal afterlife.
Fowling scene, from the tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1400–1350 BCE. Fresco on dry plaster, approx. 2’ 8” high. British Museum, London.
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The Musicians and Dancers fresco depicts a customary funerary feast that was held one day each year so the living can commune with the dead.
Musicians and dancers, detail of a fresco from the tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1400–1350 BCE. Fragment approx. 1’ x 2’ 3”. British Museum, London.
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Amarna Period
The Colossal statue of Akhenaton is an example of his religious revolution and shift in Egyptian Art. His body is shaped so it has weak arms, narrow waist, large belly wide hips, and fatty thighs. This type of style reflects his revolution in Egypt. He is not trying to be a hero, he is only a leader.
Akhenaton, from the temple of Aton, Karnak, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1353–1335 BCE. Sandstone, approx. 13’ high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
photo: © 2005 Saskia Cultural Documentation, Ltd.
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The painted limestone bust of Nefertiti, Akhenaton’s queen, expresses sensitivity and delicacy. She is portrayed with a long pensive expression and with a delicate curved neck, showing the standard of spiritual beauty.
THUTMOSE, Nefertiti, from Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1353–1335 BCE. Painted limestone, approx. 1’ 8” high. Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin.
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Tiye’s wooden portrait is a relic of the Amenhotep III funerary cult. Queen Tiye was Akhenaton’s mother. The decoration on her wooden portrait is very irregular because the expensive materials were generally reserved for royal portraits. The portrait was most likely remodeled when her son eliminated the old religion.
Tiye, from Gurob, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1353–1335 BCE. Wood, with gold, silver, alabaster, and lapis lazuli, approx. 3 3/4” high. Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin.
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The family portraiture relief shows Akhenaton, his wife Neferiti, and three daughters basking in the rays of a sun disk. They have unusual shaped heads that show Akhenaton's radical upheaval in art.
Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters, from Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1353–1335 BCE. Limestone, approx. 12 1/4” high. Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin.
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Post-Amarna Period
Tutankhamen's coffin was made up of three coffins within one another. The innermost was the most luxurious of the three. It is made of about a quarter ton on beaten gold, inlaid with semiprecious stones. The mask that covered the boy-king was also made of gold and portrays the pharaoh as Osiris.
Innermost coffin of Tutankhamen, from his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1323 BCE. Gold with inlay of enamel and semiprecious stones, approx. 6’ 1” long. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
Death mask of Tutankhamen, from the innermost coffin in his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1323 BCE. Gold with inlay of semiprecious stones, 1’ 9 1/4” high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
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The painted chest found in the tomb of Tutankhamen shows a triumph over the Asian enemies. On the lid it shows the the king as hunter hunting fleeing animals.
Painted chest, from the Tomb of Tutankhamen, Thebes, Egypt, ca. 1333–1323 BCE. Wood, approx. 1’ 8” long. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
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The Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer is a scroll from the Book of the Dead. The scroll tells the tale of Hu-Nefer crossing the Underworld to visit Osiris to receive the gift of eternal life. This scroll was found in the tomb of Hu-Nefer, the royal scribe and steward of Seti I. There is an unmistakable return to conservatism in the art style.
Last judgment of Hu-Nefer, from his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, Dynasty XIX, ca. 1290–1280 BCE. Painted papyrus scroll, approx. 1’ 6” high. British Museum, London.
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References
Kleiner, Fred S. (2009). Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History (13th ed.). Boston, MA: Thomson Wadsworth. (pp 52-76).
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