Egyptian Art
Ancient Egyptian art
was produced from
about 3000 BC to 100
AD.
It was highly stylized
and symbolic.
Much of the surviving
art comes from tombs
and monuments.
Ancient Egyptian art displays an extraordinarily vivid
representation of the Ancient Egyptian's socioeconomic status
and belief systems.
Egyptian art uses hierarchical proportion, where the size of
figures indicates their relative importance.
The gods or the divine pharaoh are
usually larger than other figures
The smallest scale were any servants and
entertainers, animals, trees, and
architectural details
The goal in ancient Egyptian art
was to show the body as
completely as possible. This goal
served an aesthetic purpose as
well as a religious one.
•
Twist the perspective: they combined frontal
and profile views of a person
•
Showed the feet in profile: often with one
slightly in front of the other to show both
•
Legs were also made in profile in order to
show the knees and muscles.
•
The torso is twisted to a frontal view at the
shoulders so both arms can be seen
•
It was crucial to illustrate both hands:
sometimes an artist would show the same
hand twice or put the hands on backwards
(more important to show all of the fingers
than get the hands in the correct spots)
•
Heads were almost always depicted in
profile view in two-dimensional art. It is
easier to draw a face from the side in order
to get the nose correct
•
Egyptians showed the eye from a frontal
view, which is why the iris is in the center of
the eye
Papyrus was used by ancient Egyptians for
writing and painting
Pharaonic artists didn’t
use shading in their
paintings.
•
Colors were more expressive rather than
natural
•
Pigments were mostly mineral, chosen to
withstand strong sunlight without fading
•
Many ancient Egyptian paintings have
survived due to Egypt's extremely dry
climate
In Egypt, two native species of lotus grew, the white
lotus and the blue lotus. The pink lotus was introduced
to the country from Persia.
All three species were depicted in Egyptian art.
The lotus closes at night and sinks underwater. In the morning
it re-emerges and blooms again. Thus the flower became a
natural symbol of the sun and creation.
The lotus was commonly used in art as a symbol of Upper Egypt. It was often
shown with its long stems intertwined with papyrus reeds (a symbol of Lower
Egypt) as a representation of the unification of the two lands.
Art Docent project:
To create a Lotus flower painting
Sources sited: Wikipedia.com, Shira.net, Egyptianmyths.net, Nationalgeographic.com