First Critical Thinking Project Study Group #2 Page 1 of 4 Jennifer Cosby Robin Foelsch Christa Franklin John Clevenger Brian Crosen Jonathan Felts Lukas Good Joshua Gordon Title
Relief: Steward Montuwosre Date
c.1955 B.C
Material
painted limestone
Measurements 41x19 5/8
Subject
Metalwork‐‐Egypt, Mid. Kingdom‐ Dyn. XII‐‐2131‐1785 BC Collection
The Image Gallery
"Egyptian artists followed certain well‐established conventions" (Stokstad). Artistic convention refers to the "customary way of representing people and the world" (Stokstad). Egyptians display simplicity through their ability to show clean lines and bold colors to show detail. In the Unfinished Relief, Tomb of Horemheb, the artist uses bold colors, like red and black. The bold colors used allow us to identify each item in the painting. The lines are extremely clean, almost as if the artist was tracing something. Lines are clearly sculpted using a grid system. This system is called the Old Kingdom standard grid. This grid system is based on the canon of proportions. "The Old Kingdom standard grid made every part have a designated place on this grid. Knowing the knee should appear a First Critical Thinking Project Study Group #2 Page 2 of 4 prescribed number of squares above the ground line, the waist was then x number of squares above the knee, and so on" (Stokstad). An example is shown below (Legon). Egyptian art seems to be modern and advanced for its time. However, the Neolithic period and cave art was a big influence. Cave paintings were painted on the walls of caves because people had the desire to decorate themselves and their surroundings. They created this art for increase ceremonies to help with the fertility of animals. Like cave paintings, Egyptian art is very similar. This suggests that these influences were somehow past along. Egyptians used art to decorate their surroundings as well mostly in burial tombs for passage of the ka. Although the meaning behind the decorations is different, it shows that they used art in a meaningfully way. One of the biggest influences of cave art on Egyptian art was the techniques used to make it. Relief sculptures, three‐dimensional image whose flat background surface in carved away to set off the figure, were created in cave art (Stokstad). The cave artists created these relief sculptures in the walls depicting abstract and lifelike images (Stokstad). Many of the Egyptian art was done in low relief, the extent of the projection is lower (Stokstad). Egyptian artists somehow derived that technique from the cave artists. Relief art was the most used technique between the cave artists and Egyptian artists. While Egyptian art seems amazing for its time, we can't forget about the ancestors that influenced it. First Critical Thinking Project Study Group #2 Page 3 of 4 With the image we are dissecting, you can see a square shape and the edges look like a grid system. Small subtle lines through the pictures make us think that the artist used the lines for placement. Also, common with Egyptian art are side profiles and not full profile. This picture shows side profile only of each individual. Conventional Egyptian art also show images "based on memory and characteristic viewpoints" (Stokstad). The paintings of the Egyptian culture show scenes from everyday life, so the deceased could carry it with them through eternity. A painting that represents the daily life in Egypt is the Stele of Amenemhat I. In the portrait we are analyzing, you can see that this appears to be a ritual. It shows a funerary ritual. There are three small individuals contributing to a pile of food and goods that appears to be an offering for good things to come. Egyptians also showed art using "mathematical formulas to determine proportions; importance determines size (hieratic scale.)" (Stokstad). In this painting, the larger image represents someone of a higher status. Compared to the size of the other individuals in the painting, the large image must be a pharaoh, god, or someone from a royal family. The writing above this figure is Egyptian writing known as hieroglyphics. These writing were used for "record keeping, correspondence, and manuscripts" (Stokstad). It could represent the steps in this ceremony, or something that the higher being could represent. Inscriptions in reliefs or paintings were on ceremonial objects like in this picture. This picture appears to be a ceremony or ritual of giving goods. The dress in this picture is important aside from the size of the figures. Headdresses, necklaces and false beards are worn by queens, kings or mistresses of the royal family. An example is Neferiti and Queen Tiy. Both are shown in headdresses with necklaces to show their higher position. A man like Kharfe in our book wears a headdress with a false beard to show his status. In the picture we are analyzing, the large figure is shown with a headdress and a false beard indicative of royalty. We could explain Egyptian art through the use of comparing different images with facts. Through the use of bold colors, distinct lines, memory images, and excellent engineering of people figures using a grid, we can break down this picture based on other Egyptian portraits in our book. Examples of stories through First Critical Thinking Project Study Group #2 Page 4 of 4 pictures on walls, higher stature people in headdresses and necklaces of gold and the size of images also help us to piece together this work. With the use of conventional artistic properties, Egyptians allow people of today to understand their daily lives in and around 3000 BCE and has enable us to learn and be able to explain these portraits to a friend. Stokstad, Marilyn."4." Art History, Volume 1 (3rd Edition). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2007. 52‐
53. Print. Legon, John. "The Cubit and the Egyptian Canon of Art." Egyptology and the Giza Pyramids. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. (<http://www.legon.demon.co.uk/canon.htm>.)