ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART (c. 3,000 BCE - 100 AD)

by Jo Colley 06:24 0 comments

Ancient Egyptian art is widely known for it's very lavish style and use of rich materials in order to represent the wealth and hierarchic society from which it originates. The beginning of religious depictions in art took a very different approach when adapted to Egyptian beliefs regarding death and an afterlife. The artefacts surviving to the modern day have shown deep rooted links to one another in their materials, pyramid shapes, hieroglyphics and stylized figures these features are highlighted in the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.

The Nile, now a source of conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia, was once the centre of the Egyptian civilization, with biblical connotations in regards to Moses in the Old Testament, and is thought to be a point of great importance in major religions.

Ceramics, largely pottery, became an important art form to Ancient Egypt, e.g. in Hu and Naqada. In Naqada, earlier forms of pottery were designed with a smooth red texture, to be embellished with black and white paint. Evidence of this pottery has been found in over 900 of the 1500 early Egyptian tombs, and s thought to be significant to the cultural belief in the afterlife, often found in animal or family graves, it is understood that this was the pottery of the lower class Egyptians. However, more embellishments designed with more rare materials are a sign of the establishment of a political hierarchy.

These Fragments of an Egyptian Tomb Painting perfectly captures the style in which Egyptian Art operated. For example, there is little use of perspective, while there is also a lack of movement as bodies are twisted between profile and forward facing features. There is often a repetition, pattern or rhyme to the ways that people or other images are gathered, incorporating a sense of geometry. Furthermore, the colours are very specifically terracotta, light blue, browns, blacks and white and often display hints of symbols or hieroglyphics.

The Pyramids

The Great Pyramids of Giza are the most well known of the Egyptian style of architectural structures. Built around 3,000 to 2,500 BCE, standing at a height of 450 feet, they remained the tallest structures in the world until the Eiffel Tower in 1889. This ambition in construction was meant for that of a lasting civilization, taking generations to build, the creation of the pyramids became a cultural focal point.

The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, 3,000 -2,500 BCE, made of Limestone, 450 feet high.

Egyptian Art, mostly, follows on from the themes and purposes of Near Eastern Art in relation to it's emphasis on Ancient styles of architecture and sculpture, as well as it's focus on empire building, religious worship and signs of hierarchy. Aesthetically, two styles can be compared in their attention to geometry in city structures and the introduction of new rich and vibrant colours.