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Ancient Egyptian artwork
Analysis of ancient Egyptian art
The style of egyptian art
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There are several differences between the sculpture of Menkaure and Khamerernebty, and the sculpture of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.
First, the portrait of Menkaure and a Queen was made in the Old Kingdom Egypt. The two figures are locked in place together in the frontal poses. They can be viewed from the front and the sides, but the back is flat and has no carved details. Although they do not stand in composite pose, their proportions are following the Egyptian canon. Thus, they have athletic bodies which are idealized from the shoulders to the waist to the hips. They were made to be the perfect symbol of human beings at that time to Egyptians’ belief. For this sculpture portray a royal family in a formal state, the two figures do not have face
expression, and the only connection that shows their relation is that the queen’s hand is putting on the king’s waist. On the other hand, the portrait of Akhenaten and Nefertiti was made in the New Kingdom Egypt. They are seated in composite poses, in which the shoulders are facing the front whereas their heads and the other parts turn to the sides. However, the proportions of their bodies do not relate to the Egyptian canon because of the long necks, bigger heads and wide hips. They were not made to be an ideal image. In contrast with the other sculpture, the king and the queen are facing each other and having connections with their children. This is unusual to portray a royal family because they are showing affection instead of posing in a formal state.
These two statues are famous to the Egyptian art era. They represent the woman’s position and the man’s position at that day and age. Traditionally, the rulers of Egypt were male. So, when Hatshepsut, Dynasty 18, ca. 1473-1458 B.C., assumed the titles and functions of king she was portrayed in royal male costumes. Such representations were more for a political statement, rather than a reflection of the way she actually looked. In this sculpture, she sits upon a throne and wears the royal kilt and the striped nemes (NEM-iss) headdress with the uraeus (cobra) and is bare chested like a man. However, she does not wear the royal beard, and the proportions of her body are delicate and feminine.
The difference between an archaic statue such as Kroisos (fig. 5-11) and a classical statue such as Doryphoros (fig. 5-42) may not seem very great in a single glance. In fact, you may not notice any differences in that one glance. Yet, if you were to look at them closely, you can see that these two statues actually have very little in common.
The Ancient Egyptian sculpture, “Statue of Nykara and His Family”, was sculpted during the late fifth dynasty. The sculpture is a depiction of Nykara, his wife, Nubkau, and son, Ankhma-Re. The statue is in poor condition with pieces of limestone missing and chips on the three subject’s faces and bodies. The painted limestone shows the conventional colors for the male and female subjects. There is a clear discoloration among Nykara and his son’s bodies. The brownish red color they once were has eroded to a light yellowish color, which resembles the purposeful color of Nykara’s wife. The hieroglyphs on Nykara’s seat insinuate that the sculpture is meant to be viewed from the front view. This is also evident by the way the three subjects are facing forward in frontal view. There are hieroglyphs on both the chair and base of the statue near Nykara’s wife and son’s feet.
Both sculptures represent Mary holding the dead body of Jesus. According to our textbook, “This figure group represented a challenge for sculptors, because the body of the adult Christ had to be positioned across his mother’s lap,” (139). Both of the sculptures were created through carving. This is a “subtractive process in which a block of material is cut away to reveal the desired form,” (Carving).
The statue of Hatshepsut seated down is made with the material limestone. This limestone is lightly colored, which created a larger contrast with the other statues nearby. Her face was carved bringing out her eyes, eyebrows and other facial features. Her eyebrows also come slightly together towards the middle. Her lips forming a slight archaic smile. The dimensions are larger than an average female size. The statue is of great size, yet still in proportion. The body and head fit well with each other overall. However, it is greatly exaggerated in size.
The Statue of a kouros and the Portrait statue of a boy both depict similar subjects, however are greatly different in how they accomplish this task. Through detail, or lack there of, the Greeks and Romans are able to display a certain value they have in its members. These two statues were made about 500 years apart and approach the sculpting process quit differently. The Greek statue seems to use geometric exaggerated lines to form the body while the Romans use a more realistic approach and sculpt the body with a more rounded finish. Statue of a kouros, from about 590 B.C and Portrait of a boy, from about the first century, do not share any great technical aspects and are basically nothing alike.
The author talks about the meaning behind the two pieces, Doryphoros (Spearbearer) and Aphrodite of Knidos. He begins by going into the basic history of what men and women at the time were expected to do during their short lived lives. He paired these two pieces because of the masculinity and femininity that divides and unites the two classical Greek sculptures. Stewart talks about genders and the gender roles that were expected of men and women at the time the artwork was made in ancient Greece. Both pieces are linked to power and vulnerability. The author goes into full detail throughout his research, giving background, reasoning, and explanation between the importance of the pieces, linking them to the important of idealized perfection.
The pieces of sculpture are both carved using the subtractive method of sculpting from stone. However, the types of stone used were very different. The sculpture of Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II was carved from a stone called greywacke, a dark colored, very hard stone the Egyptians prized for sculpture despite the fact t...
The two works of art that have been chosen to compare and contrast are The Palette Of Narmer and Apollo of Veii. The Palette Of Narmer dates back to the Hierakonpolis Dynasty 1 in 3100 BCE. The Palette of Narmer is interesting because it is the oldest historic work of art that names a person, and is the earliest piece of art that uses hieroglyph. This artwork depicts the dawn of a new age of man and his use of writing and pictographs in art. The statue of Apollo, from Veii comes from the Etruscan art period Apollo was created around 500 BCE. It was created by a very popular sculpture of his time, by the name of Vulca. The delicate technique of firing clay is fascinating. A sculptor of Vulca’s ability was required to know how to construct a large figure so that it did not fall under it’s own weight. He had to know how to precisely regulate the temperature of a kiln large enough to fit a statue of almost 6 ft tall, for a long period of time. The fact that to this day, Vulca is the only Etruscan Sculpture whose works of art have survived the test of time, show his genius in his creations.
Egyptian art is infamous across the world - classified by the monumental pyramids, and the Sphinx. Although these are both valid forms of Egyptian art, they do not make up the entire artistic history of the country. On the contrary, perhaps the most replicated example of classic Egyptian art, from the Old Kingdom, can be found in their rendering of the human form. An interest in portraiture developed early in Egypt. (Gardner, 75) Whether painted on pottery, or cut into rock, the figures all had notably Egyptian characteristics. "The seated statue is one of only a very small number of basic formulaic types employed by the sculptors of the Old Kingdom." (Gardner, 75)
The pieces of art I will be comparing and contrasting are the three statues of David, by Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi), Michelangelo (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni), and Bernini (Gian Lorenzo Bernini). The statues are modeled after the biblical David, who was destined to become the second king of Israel. Also most famously known as the slayer of the Philistine giant Goliath with a stone and a sling. The sculptures are all based on the same biblical hero, but differ from one another. Each David is unique in its own certain way.
As women age, their bodies change in various ways such as the development of wrinkles and white hair. However, Egyptian art did not necessarily combine these features in a consistent, fixed order when they show women as they grew older. This may reflect the reality of the ageing process: people do not always age in the sa...
Let’s begin with what was going on during the time period for each sculpture. During the 2458-2446 BCE. Userkaf was thriving over his brother Sahure, and he became the new ruler of Egypt. In the start of 2446 BCE, Neferirkare beings his dominant over Egypt. King Sahure and Nome God is a high relief it is still attached to a surface of a stone. The Pharaoh sitting on his thorn wearing a Nemes headdress (it is usually blue and gold striped), fake beard. The king has an emotionless facial expression. It was made for a decoration for the king pyramid complex. The symbol behind this statue could be the gathering of the Nome gods form Upper and Lower Egypt around t...
Both of these pieces of art have much in common. Their functions are almost identical. Both were used to mark burial sites and to honor the deceased buried there. The body language of both the pieces’ figures are similar, with one seated and several others standing around them. Neither has color, but unlike the grave stele, the funerary banquet does show some degree of emotion. The figures in the banquet scene have slight smiles. These pieces played an important role in their times, honoring those who had passed on to the afterlife. For both of these people, it was important to memorialize them very similar to our practices today.
One of the more obvious differences would be the crown that the two are wearing. The crown that Akhenaten is wearing is shaped in an oblong type of way while his crown sits straight up on his head. The Statue of Tuthmosis II crown sits flat on his head and is shaped differently. The positions that the arms are in are different for both statues. The statue of Tuthmosis II has his arms placed beside him and his hands balled into a fist. For the statue of Akhenaten, his arms are crossed over his chest with his hands balled into a fist. Even though one of his arms is missing you can still see this detail because his hand still remains on his chest. The shape of the lower sections of their bodies is also not the same. The figure of the statue of Akhenaten has a rounder figure compared to the one of Tuthmosis II which is