Download APAH: Egyptian Art

APAH: Egyptian Art
Timeline of Egyptian History: (All dates are BC)
Pre-Dynastic
Early Dynastic
Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom
c. 3,500 – ca. 3,000
c. 3,000 – ca. 2,680
c. 2,680 – ca. 2,260
c. 2,130 – ca. 1,790
c. 1,570 – ca. 1,085
Conquered by the Assyrians
Conquered by the Persians
Conquered by Alexander the Great
Conquered by the Romans
670
662
332
30
The Greek historian Herodotus said, "They (the Egyptians)
are religious to excess, far beyond any other race of men."
Egyptian Culture
Religious
Concern for immortality / After-life
Body with soul (ka)
Preservation of body after death
Permanence: long, stable and continuous
Few invasions
Importance of Nile
Cyclical flooding
Irrigation/fertile soil
‘Rediscovery’ of Egypt by 19th century Europe
Napoleon
Hieroglyphics
Rosetta Stone (1,799 AD Napoleon’s invasion)
Hieroglyphics/demotic (common) Egyptian/Greek
Sudden cultural development c. 3,500 BC
Kingdom of two lands: Upper/Lower Nile
Political / Economic
Physical environment
Upper: dry, rocky, rustic
Lower: opulent, urban, populous
Unification by Menes signals start of Egyptian history
Early Dynastic Period
Palette of Narmer (c. 3,000 – 2,900 BC)
Records historical event – union of Egypt
Crowns on Narmer
Upper Egypt (cone head)
Lower Egypt (cobra)
One crown in battle / Two crowns in aftermath
King alone – no troops – deification
Falcon = Horace / Cow = Hathor
Formalization of forms – 1st example
Set system of proportion – Canon of Egyptian Art
Defines 3,000 yrs of Egyptian art
Use of strong horizontal line for feet
Old Kingdom
Age of pyramids
Height of Egyptian art
Permanence / regularity
Mastaba (Arabic for bench) – house of the dead
Little concern for burial in Mesopotamia
Importance of burial in Egypt
Stepped Pyramid of Djoser (c. 2,750 BC)
Evolution of mastaba
First royal tomb
At Saqqara (Memphis)
Necropolis – city of the dead
Burial complex surrounded by wall
Created by Imhotep
1st named artist
Pyramids of Gizeh (Giza), (c. 2,550 – 2,490 BC)
Menkaure, Khafre, Khufu (Cheops)
Outside present day Cairo
Evolution of step-pyramid / Ability to build big
Oriented to four compass points
On western side of Nile
Approached by boat from eastern side
Canal to landing / causeway area
Represents crossing over to afterlife – side of setting sun
Mortuary temple on eastern side of pyramid
Rising sun
Cult of Sun God Re
Pyramid symbol – ben-ben stone
Pointing to heaven
Pinnacle covered in gold
Great Sphinx
Next to walkway to Pyramid of Khafre
Face of Khafre?
Guardian imagery
Seated Statue of Khafre (c. 2,520 – 2,494 BC)
Lined causeway to pyramid
Permanence
Diorite – abrasion technique
No movement of the form – “eternal stillness”
Kingly visage, calm enduring power
Individual yet formalized
Nemes headdress
Uraeus cobra of kingship
Fake beard of royalty
Idealized form – perfect body
Like Mesopotamian art: frontal pose, rigid
Base: intertwined lotus/papyrus = united Egypt
Head: Falcon protecting back = symbol of Horus
Menkaure & His Wife (c. 2,490 – 2,472 BC)
Rigid, formal posture – left leg forward
Inaccurate weight shift
Unaffectionate embrace
Seated Scribe Kay (c. 2,620 – 2,500 BC)
Saqqara
Inverse relationship b/w importance and realism
Important position in illiterate society
Painted limestone
Ka-Aper
Wood
Physically real – life-like
Minor official – greater realism
Ti Hunting Hippopotamus
Tomb relief
Provisioning the ka
Importance of river
Protecting agriculture
Metaphorical references
Success of the hunt / Crossing the river
Middle Kingdom
Rock Cut Tombs
Replaced the use of pyramids
Hollowed from rock cliffs
Portico
Columned hall
Burial chamber
New Kingdom
Ahmose I
Conquers lands beyond Egypt
Creates capital at Thebes
Architecture
Burial chambers – hidden rock cut tombs
Valley of the Kings
Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (c. 1,473 – 1,458 BC)
Female pharaoh
Integrated with natural backdrop
Columns – alternating dark and light
Modeled desert landscape – control over it
200 + sculptures
Brightly painted reliefs
Trees on terraces
Statue of Amen-Re transported to Temple for one night each year
Thutmose III tried to erase her
Hatshepsut
Red granite – 8’6”
Offering Ma’at (order) to the god Amen
Nemes headdress (striped cloth) and cobra, ceremonial beard
Asserts power and authority – connection to other pharaohs in depictions
Male image – inscriptions are feminine
Commissioned temples and statues
[also depicted as a sphinx]
Pylon temple style
Façade – pylon (massive face)
Interior represents rank
Court (common people)
Hypostyle hall (chosen few)
Sanctuary (pharaoh, priests)
Temple of Amen-Re at Karnak (c. 1,391 – 1,351 BC)
Metaphorical value: world at its inception
Columns represent plants – papyrus buds and flowers
Columns 66’
Bud-shaped
Campaniform (bell shaped)
Capital 22’ (diameter)
Clerestory design
Sunken relief – figures carved away
Obelisks
Temple of Ramses II (1,290 – 1,224 BC)
Abu Simbel
Importance of upper Nile
Gold, ivory, animal pelts
4 statues of himself
Pylon carved from stone face
Interior – column statues of himself
Atlantids – male statues as columns
Caryatid – female
Non-weight-bearing
Not a mortuary temple
Moved from original location – changed orientation
Amarna Period
Akhenaton IV (Amenhotep IV)
Abolished old forms of religion/established Aton
Monotheistic
Moved capital to Tell el-Amarna
Break with past formalism
Statue of Akhenaton
Fluid lines/curves
Emphasis on movement
Akhenaton and Nefertiti w/ Children (c. 1,353 – 1,335 BC)
Affection
Three girls
Family unit
Bust of Nefertiti
Head of Tiye
Greater realism of Amarna Period
Post-Akhenaton
Reestablishment of old religion/forms
King Tut (Tutankhamen)
Return to Amen
Note the changed suffix
Sarcophagus of King Tut (c. 1323 BC)
Gold, enamel, semi-precious stones
Nested tombs
Return to formalism
Seti I Making an Offering
Scroll of Hu-Nefer (c. 1275 BC)
Painted papyrus scroll
Book of the Dead – protect the soul
Judgment of the soul
Narrative
The end…..
Military decline signaled end of Egyptian strength
Decline of power = decline of great works