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Characteristics of the art of ancient Egypt

The art of ancient Egypt extends from the Nagada period, between 3800 and 3000 BC, to the Amarna period, around 1300 BC. During these millennia, the artist, who had the status of a craftsman, had to reproduce the essential features of reality. A profusion of details would have suggested the fragility of reality. Yet the Egyptians fiercely denied the ephemeral. It is estimated that 95% of the works currently preserved are sculpted reliefs and only 5% are frescoes or drawings. The strict conventions imposed on the artist were established during the Old Kingdom. These included the organization of themes into superimposed registers, the rejection of naturalism in background representations, the use of hierarchical perspective, and the use of different styles for different characters.

In graphic terms, Egyptian art is characterized by clean lines, simple forms and flat tones of color. Despite the absence of traditional perspective, the representations were surprisingly realistic. Indeed, the artists had an in-depth knowledge of anatomy and a keen sense of detail. Fortunately, Egyptian art has stood the test of time magnificently, thanks to the very dry climate of this part of the world.

Egyptian art was endowed with a strong symbolic and sociological value, its function being to reflect the social, religious or political status of its subject. Thus, the more important a character was, the larger he or she was depicted. A limited number of colors were allowed: white, black, the three primary colors and their combinations (green, brown, pink and gray). It wasn't until the Amarna period that subtle gradations appeared.

A symbolic art

Egyptian art is resolutely allegorical. Animals represent deities, such as Horus with his falcon head, or Anubis with his jackal head. Likewise, color has a metaphorical meaning: white represents joy, but also ritual purity, and as a reminder of the dawn, white evokes the victory of light over darkness. Light blue symbolizes air and sky. It is the color of Amon, god of the atmosphere; dark blue represents the night sky and the abyss; turquoise, the universe of the Nile, from which life emerges. Brown is reserved for the skin, dark for men, ochre for women. Yellow is gold, the sun and its immortality, the color of the gods. Black, the color of night and the realm of the dead, is above all a symbol of rebirth and fertility. Red, the color of the god Set, the destroyer, evokes violence, fire and blood, but also victory. Green, the color of vegetation, is also the color of youth and renewal.

The universal need to explain the mystery of death led the Egyptians to believe in an afterlife. This is why Egyptian art is deeply influenced by religion. Sculptors and painters reproduced all the objects that the patron wished to find after death, because in the afterlife, the deceased continued to need food, games for entertainment and servants. Art forms evolved very little throughout the dynastic period. It was not until the reign of Akhenaten that artists broke away from tradition.

The deceased were idealized, like kings and gods, presented in a serene, dignified attitude: the law of frontality divided the body into two symmetrical parts. Objects were similarly symbolic. The oblong cartouche protects the names of the pharaohs. Accessories such as headdresses and scepters provide information about the subject's identity. The beard is reserved for the pharaoh (straight beard) and the gods (curved beard). The divine scepter (Ouas), a kind of long, forked cane, is specific to the gods. The papyrus-shaped sekhem scepter is reserved for dignitaries. Amulets introduce symbols such as the Djed pillar, Osiris' backbone, symbolizing stability and resurrection. Or the scarab symbolizing rebirth, the vulture synonymous with protection and the Ouadj column indicating agricultural fertility.

Paintings and reliefs

The struggle against the ephemeral and the concern for order influenced both painting and reliefs. The Egyptians mastered many techniques, but their greatest achievements remain the wall decorations of tombs, such as those in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. Friezes were also used to recount wars, glorify royal power and show and worship deities. Their main function, however, was to assist the deceased beyond the grave. The splendid scenes in the Menna tomb (Sheikh Abd el-Gournah necropolis) show the deceased happily fishing in papyrus boats with his family.

The tempera technique was the only one used in painting. Color is obtained by mixing water, adhesives (egg white or vegetable gum) and powdered pigments. Many bas-reliefs and sculptures were painted, so sculpture and painting techniques are complementary. As far as relief is concerned, there are three distinct methods. Bas-relief: figures are carved into the stone, protruding slightly. Secondly, Egyptian relief: the figures are modelled in hollows without standing out from the background. Finally, engraved relief involves hollowing out the contours of the figures.

Painted relief, the technique favored by the ancient Egyptians, also obeys certain standards. Playing with scales modulates the relative importance of each figure. Combining different angles of view highlights a specific detail or presents an object from a significant angle. In the case of human figures, the shoulders and eyes are always shown from the front. The rest of the figure, both body and face, is seen in profile. Like all Egyptian art techniques, painted relief abstracts from the notion of time, as it aims for eternity. This is why the most resistant materials are selected for building monuments and sculpting reliefs. This imperative also dictated the use of compact poses which, being less fragile, prevent damage.

During the Middle Kingdom, the models inherited from the Old Kingdom endure, although they are copied in a more sophisticated and varied style. The oushebti, small statuettes of funeral servants, made their appearance.

During the New Kingdom, the boom in pictorial works can be explained by the democratization of mortuary rites. Artisans witnessed a proliferation of buildings and therefore of surfaces to be painted. In addition to frescoes, they multiplied the number of illustrations on papyrus to be placed in sarcophagi. Gradually, the increase in production led to a more schematic style. Influenced by contacts with Asia, artists paid more attention to the details of hair, ornamentation and jewelry. The sense of movement became clearer. Halftones made their appearance to bring transparency to clothing, for example. New themes spread: battles, the spectacle of victors and vanquished, but also feasts and sumptuous banquets.

The Egyptian sculpture

Sculpture played an important role in the Egyptian world. The ideological and cultural complexity of Egyptian society is reflected in the materials used and the techniques employed. Stone is of course favored for its resistance to wear and tear.

The Egyptians are famous for their gigantic sculptures. The most grandiose examples are the mysterious Sphinx at Giza, the statues of Ramses II at the Abu Simbel temples and the diorite sculpture of Pharaoh Khephren found in the Giza necropolis. At the same time, the Egyptians produced smaller, more ornate statuary, demonstrating excellent mastery of a variety of materials such as alabaster, ivory, limestone, basalt, wood gilding and sometimes even gold.

The statuary is also funerary (the statue is considered the receptacle of the soul of the deceased) or divine (representations of the Pharaoh, god on earth and in the afterlife). The statue is, however, a portrait, probably a likeness, its function being to fix the spirit of the deceased. The symbolism of the sculptures was extremely strong: they served to guide the dead into eternity, or enabled them to relive moments of their past existence.

Another theme in statuary was family happiness. The statues of the married couple Rahotep and Nefret in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo are highly revealing of this symbolism. They are both depicted seated on a chair with a backrest, although Nefret seems more self-effacing than her husband. Rahotep is evoked to assert his hierarchical position within the couple. His angular silhouette sets him firmly in place, while his ochre complexion stands out against the white back of the seat. The paler Nefret appears curvaceous, dressed in white and adorned with jewels.

The third theme is sculpture as a symbol of power. It expresses the high qualities of the pharaoh and his supreme responsibilities. The painted sandstone statue of Montouhotep II, from the Deir el-Bahari complex in Luxor, depicts the king on his throne, arms folded in the attitude of Osiris. His massive body, expressing all his power, marks a turning point in Middle Kingdom art. The sphinx is, of course, the most famous and mysterious model of royal representation. It symbolizes the solar union of the god Ra and the pharaoh.

The Amarna period

The Amarna period (1353-1336) revolutionized the artistic canons that had been in place for centuries. The Amarna style was born under the pharaoh Amenhotep III and asserted itself under his successor Akhenaten. The latter demystified the Pharaoh by depicting himself in everyday scenes.

Amarna art is characterized by its delicacy, its abundance of plants and birds, and its genre scenes. Official sculpture adopted features that achieved a realism totally at odds with the production of earlier reigns. While the poses and general forms of the statuary reflect tradition, the portraits seem to have been made from life, rather than from an official model. The men have softened features and full lips. The similarities between the statue of Akhenaton in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the famous busts of his wife Nefertiti are obvious.

More generally, art is breaking away from ancient taboos. The friezes in the Amarna tomb, for example, have more to do with the daily life of the royal family than with the king's future life in the afterlife. The pharaoh rides in his chariot, followed by his servants, to the great temple of Aten. He brings as an offering to the god an abundance of animals that would never have found their way into a previous tomb. Other paintings depict the royal family in private scenes, notably eating, with an unprecedented fluidity of movement. All these representations run counter to the classic image of the immutable, impenetrable Pharaoh.

After Akhenaten, religion reclaimed its former place and artists returned to a conservative style.