ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART
Aim: Who were the Ancient Egyptians?
Topic: Egyptian Art, 3150 BC- 350 BC
Cradle Western Civilization.
Three Major Kingdoms:
OLD-MIDDLE-NEW- their history is divided into
Dynasties.
Pharaohs were royal and bloodlines remained ‘pure’
Religion: dominated by multiple deities, strong
belief in afterlife.
Writing: hieroglyphics, picture based
Architecture: MASTABAS-where pharaoh was
buried with possessions—step pyramids—pyramids
*King Zoser ( Step Pyramid) 2780-2720 BC
*Pyramids (ex. Giza, Cheops)
*Great Sphinx
*Temples: Queen Hatshepsut @ Deir el Bahri,
colonnades
Amun @ Karnak (Luxor)
Ramses II @ Abu Simbel
Columns: Lotus, Papyrus
Obelisks
Amarna period: realistic
AIM: Who were the Ancient Egyptians?
Topic: Egyptian Art
Art rules
Hieroglyphics: picture-based, 600 characters
-Strive for clarity (not illusion), practical,
communication
-Religious purposes (tombs/temples)
-Figures always young, idealized and nature is
always lush and perfect
-stylized with lines + borders/registers, bonded lines
(complete message)
-symbolic meaning
-size matters-hierarchal proportions
-frontality (maximum exposure) >> most familiar
-Painting-full figure, mix of profile and frontal pose
eyes/shoulders =frontal
head/feet=profile
-men: painted color reddish brown, women: lighter
Earth tones: yellow-browns-greens
-Little shading.
- Book of the Dead (ex. Greenfield Papyrus)
Sculpture: contrapposto pose, to be viewed from
front and sides
 *Bust Queen Nefertiti (Amarna period,
Akenhanten ruler)
 *King Tut’s Sarcophagus
 *Palette of King Narmer, oldest=unification of
Egypt
 *Menkaure and his wife (Mycerinus and his
Queen)
 *Prince Rahotep and his wife
Jewelry-Cartouche, necklaces, bracelets, etc, Sacred
animals.
Additional notes, Leslie
The Great Pyramids.
Mastabas-atop an underground burial chamber
Step Pyramid>>Pyramid
Step Pyramid>>Giza>>Sphinx.
Carved from live rock, 65 feet, lion body
Old Kingdom: Mycerinus + wife, slate
Dynasties. Little survives except tombs.
People must provide for their own afterlife
Middle Kingdom, Seated Scribe
Greenfield Papyrus, Osiris(?)
New Kingdom, Temple Queen Hatshepsut
Registers, Descriptive perspective
Queen Nefertiti, (bust and mummy)
Ramses II, Temple
Palette of King Narmer, front and back, oldest
historical work of art
Earliest surviving image of an identified person,
know his name
Celebrates Victory of Upper/Lower Egypt
Imhotep, Architect, first to be recorded.
Portrait statues, found in temples and tombs, diorite,
very hard stone, (Kafre?)
Wall painting, some similar to Minoan/Aegean wall
painting.