Art and Society
Ancient and Modern Contexts of Egyptian Art
Proceedings of the International Conference held
at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 13–15 May 2010
Edited by
Katalin Anna Kóthay
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 2012
Editor: Katalin Anna Kóthay
Proof-reading: Adrian Hart
Graphic design, prepress work and photo editing: Eszter Balder
Editorial Coordination: Timea Türk
Printed by: EPC Nyomda, Budapest
Publisher: Dr. László Baán, General Director
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 2012
Cover illustration: Female statue, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, inv. no. 51.2048
ISBN 978-963-7063-91-6
The publication of this volume was supported by the Hungarian National Culture Fund.
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Contents
List of Contributors
7
Foreword
9
Discourses about Works of Art in Ancient and Modern Times
Maya Müller
13
Theban Tomb Graffiti during the New Kingdom. Research on
the Reception of Ancient Egyptian Images by Ancient Egyptians
Alexis Den Doncker
23
Egyptian Pyramids in an East European Landscape
Joachim Śliwa
35
Interaction of Three-dimensional and Two-dimensional Art
Helmut Satzinger
45
The ‘Four Schools of Art’ of Senwosret I. Is it Time for a Revision?
David Lorand
47
Handmade Terracotta Figurines with Hands Secured behind
the Backs. The Potential Use of an Art Historical Method in
the Research of Egyptian Minor Arts
Máté Petrik
57
Privatplastik im Wandel der Zeiten. Skulpturen als
Kunsthistorisches Bildmedium
Edith Bernhauer
73
Kunst und Gesellschaft in der Libyerzeit. Beobachtungen
an Königsstatuen der Dritten Zwischenzeit
Helmut Brandl
79
Stratégie d’épure et stratégie d’appogiature dans les productions
dites « artistiques » à l’usage des dominants. Le papyrus dit « érotique »
de Turin et la mise à distance des dominés
Pascal Vernus
109
„Eine Frage des Geschmacks“ – Anmerkungen zur Grabdekoration
auf dem Teti-Friedhof von Saqqara
Gabriele Pieke
123
6
Hierarchy of Women within Elite Families. Iconographic Data
from the Old Kingdom
Vera Vasiljević
139
Theban Tomb Painting during the Reign of Amenhotep II
(1427–1400 BC). Investigation into an Artistic Creation in
its Historical and Sociocultural Context
Maruschka Gathy
151
Behind the Mirror. Art and Prestige in Kha’s Funerary Equipment
Marcella Trapani
159
‘The Bull Coming out of the Mountain’. The Changing Context
and Connotations of an Iconographic Motif
Éva Liptay
169
sS qd wt – The Attestations from the Middle Kingdom and
the Second Intermediate Period
Danijela Stefanović
185
Tracking Ancient Egyptian Artists, a Problem of Methodology.
The Case of the Painters of Private Tombs in the Theban Necropolis
during the Eighteenth Dynasty
Dimitri Laboury
199
Pour une approche matérielle et expérimentale de la peinture thébaine
Hugues Tavier
209
Thebanische Totenstelen der 3. Zwischenzeit.
Zur ihrer Produktion und Verwendung
Marc Loth
217
The Gamhud Artisans
Katalin Anna Kóthay
235
The Burial Ensemble of Tasenet from Gamhud and the Ptolemaic
Coffin style in Northern Middle Egypt
Gábor Schreiber
257
Imitation of Materials in Ancient Egypt
Manuela Gander
265
Plates
273
45
Interaction of Three-dimensional and Two-dimensional Art
Helmut Satzinger
Reality is three-dimensional. Art may render reality in two or three dimensions. Drawings and paintings are two-dimensional. Although relief is theoretically three-dimensional, the shallow Egyptian
relief – whether raised or sunken – follows the conventions of two-dimensional art. Sculpture in the
round is three-dimensional.
There are also rare cases where two-dimensional reality has to be rendered by art. A drawing or
painting may be the object of a painting, as in the famous Art of Painting by Vermeer.1 Recently,
Miral Lashienhas drawn attention to the representation of painting activity, and consequently to
the depiction in painting of some paintings, in the tomb of Baqet III of the Middle Kingdom, at
Beni Hasan.2
Not infrequently, three-dimensional art is presented in two dimensions. As early as during the
period of the Old Kingdom the wall scenes of the tombs depict manufacturing and the transportation of statues: Marianne Eaton-Kraus has dedicated a monograph to this topic.3
In contrast to this, it is not clear from the outset that Egyptian art depicted statues also in the
round, i.e. that there are ‘statues of statues’. We owe the detection of their existence to a recent ingenious study by Sergio Donadoni.4
So much by way of introduction. The topic of the following is yet another switch of dimensions,
namely the rendition of two-dimensional art in sculpture. There appear to be two basic solutions:
1) the application of painting: within the sculpture, a painting/drawing is rendered in painting; or
2) the rendition of a picture in a plastic interpretation, i.e. in three dimensions.
For the rendition of a picture in painting on a sculpture, one may compare a statue in the Vatican,
featuring Saint Veronica who presents the Veil which carries Jesus’ portrait, imprinted with the sweat
and blood of the tortured Saviour – a work completed by Francesco Mochi (Mocchi) in 1629.5
A different solution is found in the sculpture of the numerous calvaries of Brittany. There, the tradition is to render Jesus’ portrait in relief when depicting Saint Veronica with the Veil. One example
of many: the Calvary of Guimiliau, Finistère (Plate 9.1).
This strategy can also be found in Graeco-Roman art. A case in point are female statues that display a cloak, worn over a chiton. Obviously, the vertical folds of the chiton were vaguely visible under
the horizontal folds of the cloak. This, again, was rendered plastically, though in a very subtle way.
A case in point can be found, e.g., in the Classical Department of the Vienna Art Museum (inv. no.
I 1052; Plate 9.2).
I would finally like to mention an attestation in Egyptian art, namely the squatting reader from
the Old Kingdom (Vienna Art Museum, inv. no. 7789; Plate 9.3). This sculpture was discovered in
January 1914 in the rubble south-west of the mastaba of Shepses-ptah (S 338/339) by Hermann
Junker’s team.
In the publication by Brigitte Jaroš-Deckert and Eva Rogge, the following description is given:6
Die Statue eines Mannes, mit untergeschlagenen Beinen in der Art eines Schreibers sitzend, hält
einen Papyrus aufge¬rollt im Schoß. Kopf und Hals sind bis auf den vorderen Halsansatz abgebrochen … Über dem gespannten Stoffstück zwischen den Unterarmen ist eine leicht reliefierte
Papyrusrolle, die ursprünglich eine Inschrift in schwarzer Tinte trug, ausgerollt; sie wird mit
beiden Händen gehalten. Die kurzen Daumen – mit abgeflachten Nägeln – liegen jeweils auf
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Helmut Satzinger
der Rolle, während die übrigen, gleich dicken Finger sich in Hochrelief unter dem ausgebreiteten
Papyrus abzeichnen und ursprünglich in Rotbraun unter dem Weiß des Papyrus durchschimmerten.
The remarkable feature is the fingers of the hands that are visible from under the papyrus. This gives
the impression that they are sticking through the material. However, the reason for this is different.
New papyrus of good quality is transparent, as I have been informed by Corrado Basile, Siracusa.
This is what the sculptor wanted to show here: when the scribe holds his hands under the sheet, one
can see the fingers through the papyrus. In reality, it was a smooth surface through which the fingers
could only vaguely be seen. The sculptor decided on the same strategy as was practised in GraecoRoman art, in the way described, and also in the traditional sculpture of the calvaries of Brittany
when rendering Veronica’s Veil.
1 Cf., e.g., http://www.alloilpaint.com/vermeer/24.jpg
2 M. Lashien, Artist’s Training in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, GM 224 (2010), 81–85.
3 M. Eaton-Krauss, The representations of statuary in private tombs of the Old Kingdom, ÄA 39, Wiesbaden 1984.
4 S. Donadoni, Statue di statue, Ægyptus [Rivista Italiana di Egittologia e Papirologia] 85 (2005), 175–184.
5 A photo can be found, inter alia, sub b: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/2552309302_8737852b33.jpg
6 B. Jaroš-Deckert – E. Rogge, Statuen des Alten Reichs, CAA, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien 15, Mainz am Rhein
1993, 95.
Helmut Satzinger
Plate 9
1 Saint Veronica, calvary of Guimiliau, Finistère.
Photo: H. Satzinger.
2 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Antikensammlung,
3 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Ägyptisch-Orientalisch Sammlung,
inv. no. I 1052. © Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien.
inv. no. 7789. © Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien.