Queen Nefertiti Sculpture Classical realism figurative sculpture by Yoyita H: 21 by W: 10 by D: 6 1/2 Queen Nefertiti (c. 1370 BC - c. 1330 BC) Her name means the beautiful (or perfect) one has arrived. was the Great Royal Wife (or chief consort/wife) of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. She was the mother-in-law and probable stepmother of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Akhenaten and Nefertiti had six daughters, she shared her husband with two other royal wives named Mekytaten and Ankhesenpaaten, as well as later with her probable daughter, Merytaten. Iin 1912, an exquisite limestone sculpture of her now-famous face was unearthed at the royal retreat of Amarna. It was more than 3,200 years old, dating from 1345 B.C. now in Berlin's Altes Museum. The bust was attributed to the sculptor Thutmose, and was found in his workshop. The bust itself is notable for exemplifying the understanding Ancient Egyptians had regarding realistic facial proportions.

The royal line of Egyptians of that era resembled Caucasoid/Asiatic types with large, dark, almond-shaped eyes, broad facial planes with gracefully curving contours, and lips of moderate thickness and width. (Brace, et al.1933) Some of her titles included: Heiress, Great of Favours, Possessed of Charm, Exuding Happiness, Mistress of Sweetness, beloved one, soothing the king's heart in his house, soft-spoken in all, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt, Great King's Wife, whom he loves, Lady of the Two Lands, Nefertiti. It is now believed that she was the daughter of Ay, later to be pharaoh. Another theory identified Nefertiti with the Mitanni princess Tadukhipa. The name Nimerithin has been mentioned in older scrolls, as an alternative name, but this has not yet been officially confirmed. If she was indeed the daughter of Ay, it was probably not by his chief wife, Tey, who was not referred to as a "Royal mother of the chief wife of the king", but rather 'nurse' and 'governess' of the king's chief wife.

It could be that Nefertiti's actual mother died early on, and it was left to Tey to raise the young girl. Undoubtedly, Akenaten seems to have had a great love for his Chief Royal wife. They were inseparable in early reliefs, many of which showed their family in loving, almost utopian compositions. At times, the king is shown riding with her in a chariot, kissing her in public and with her sitting on his knee. it was the figure of Nefertiti that Akhenaten had carved onto the four corners of his granite sarcophagus and it was she who provided the protection to his mummy, a role traditionally played by the female deities Isis, Nephthys, Selket and Neith. In Year 4 of his reign (1346 BC) Amenhotep IV started his worship of Aten. The king led a religious revolution, in which Nefertiti played a prominent role. This year is also believed to mark the beginning of his construction of a new capital, Akhetaten, at what is known today as Amarna. In his Year 5, Amenhotep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten as evidence of his new worship.

The date given for the event has been estimated to fall around January 2 of that year. In Year 7 of his reign (1343 BC) the capital was officially moved from Thebes to Amarna, though construction of the city seems to have continued for two more years (till 1341 BC). The new city was dedicated to the royal couple's new religion. Nefertiti's famous bust is also thought to have been created around this time. During Akhenaten's reign (and possibly after) Nefertiti enjoyed unprecedented power, and by the twelfth year of his reign, there is evidence that she may have been elevated to the status of co-regent equal in status to the pharaoh himself. She was often depicted on temple walls the same size as the king, signifying her importance, and shown worshiping the Aten alone. Perhaps most impressively, Nefertiti is shown on a relief from the temple at Amarna which is now in the MFA in Boston, smiting a foreign enemy with a mace before the Aten. Such depictions had traditionally been reserved for the pharaoh alone, and yet Nefertiti was depicted as such.

About Year 14 of Akhenaten's reign (1336 BC), Nefertiti herself vanishes from the historical record, and there is no word of her after that date. A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual. These may be of any suitable material (such as marble, bronze or clay). Nefertiti Figurative sculpture Copyright 1976-2013 Dr. Gloria Norris. Click to contact the artist for prices or information Categoría:Dinastía XVIII Statues & Busts of Morocco - SkyscraperCity Statues & Busts of Morocco As a general reminder, please respect others and respect copyrights. Go here to familiarize yourself with our posting policy.

Page 1 of 2 Statues & Busts of Morocco Statue A statue is a sculpture representing one or more people or animals (including abstract concepts allegorically represented as people or animals), normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger. A small statue, usually small enough to be picked up, is called a statuette or figurine. More Bust A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual. These may be of any medium used for sculpture, such as marble, bronze, terracotta or wood. A parallel term, aust, is a representation of the upper part of an animal or mythical creature. Remains of an antique statue What remains of a roman statue, Chellah (Sala colonia), Rabat.

Location: ORLANDO / CASABLANCA/ SAN JUAN Posts: 3,788 Likes (Received): 382 The only statue that I know in Morocco is the sindibad statue , are there any others ? __________________ I HAVE VISITED THE UNITED STATES , CANADA , MEXICO , PUERTO RICO , MOROCCO , FRANCE , SPAIN , ITALY , ISRAEL , KUWAIT , TUNISIA , COSTA RICA AND EGYPT AND I AM PROUD TO BE IRISH , MOROCCAN AND SPANIARD magharebi liked this post Yes, there are. I'm going to post more. Likes (Received): 6075 Ptolemy Statue of marble representing The last king of Mauritania, Ptolemy. Discovered in Volubilis, now in the Archaeological museum of Rabat. Likes (Received): 6075 Cato the Younger Bronze bust of Cato the Younger from the Archaeological Museum of Rabat, Morocco. Found in the House of Venus, Volubilis.

Likes (Received): 6075 Marina Smir, M'diq Some photographer claims that it's the statue of Tariq Ibn Ziyad, but there is no sign indicating that. Orson Welles by Mouldfish , on Flickr by jacqueline.poggi & styeb , on Flickr by jacqueline.poggi & fnmweb , on Flickr The hound of Volubilis Bronze statue of a dog, found in Volubilis. First or second century AD. Posts: 2 Likes (Received): 1 There was a statue in Casablanca showing a French soldier and a Moroccan soldier riding their horses, but after our independence it was moved to France. Notice how the horse that the Moroccan soldier is riding is lowering its head while the horse that the French officer is riding his head is up.... It was a good idea that they moved it out of this country.

Sorry but I couldn't post the image as I am still new to this The Sculptural “Bust” As Decoration – House Appeal by Kristin Abrahamsen , posted in Decor , Decorating , Interior Design , Ponderings and Inspirations The mere idea of a bust as decor brings to mind references of historical nobility within an interior. In fact it is said that the bust references history, civility and culture. Agreed. According to Wikipedia, “A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person’s head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual. These may be of any suitable material (such as marble, bronze or clay)”. Throughout the centuries, sculptural busts have indeed been formed from many substances, including limestone, bronze, alabaster, wood, stone, precious metals and glazed earthenware. It is perhaps the more common classic marble, limestone, alabaster and bronze that often seem to take the center stage. The tradition of the sculptural bust is historic and vast.

Historically, the bust was the customary form of portraiture in many civilizations. The Renaissance, influenced by Humanist thinking, in which prime importance was placed on the human rather than the divine or supernatural, led to an appreciation and fascination of Greek and Roman antiquity in art and culture. The Greeks were known to idealize the face and the Romans were known as Realists that created lifelike renderings. A Former Chief Curator at the National Academy Museum in New York City had stated of the Romans “They showed every bump, wrinkle and wart… Portraiture was practically dead from the lapse of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance”. Bust sculpture is said to have reached its climax in pre-revolutionary France and the Italian Renaissance. During this period, sculpture and painting were closely related, however, the 3-dimensional art form of the bust went beyond what an artist could compose upon a canvas. The bust that simulated oneself was indeed, a favored lasting and decorative approach. Busts were truly elevated mortals, put upon a pedestal in public spaces or in private homes. Often, multiple copies were cast in plaster and given as gifts! Imagine! Perhaps the element of vanity is what adds interest to the eternal art of the bust?

An unknown scholar has stated eloquently that “Sculpture is the portrait of immortals, for a bust portrait is often stripped to the essential to represent the dominant trait which though particularly that of one man, yet is nevertheless of universal value: grandeur, nobility, courage, force of character, profundity of thought, esprit, genius, intelligence….” Well stated. Eventually, the bust was exchanged for the painted surface. But the immortalization of the bust lives on. Vincente Wolf, a modern luxe Designer, states“It’s like having somebody from the past sitting there. It can bring great drama, incredible detail, and a wonderful human scale to the space”. Designer Victoria Hagan reveals that “Living with art is different from seeing it in a museum. A bust is obvious, and you have to be sure that it does not take over a room, even a grand hall. I’ve removed busts from pedestals, which are imposing and create distance. I’ve put them in niches, on tabletops, on library shelves, where they add to the richness of books and the atmosphere of learning. Basically, I view a bust as sculpture, and I may move it around the room.

I don’t think art should be stagnant. I like my rooms to speak, and a bust is one voice“. Sculptural Busts Within The Interior This ancient form linked to antiquity can be incorporated in artful placement and perhaps even used as a whimsical display. The sculptural bust provides old world charm and adds an intriguing element and accent when included in an attractive interior or even exterior vignette. Pairing modern with classical elements is a perfect marriage. This conversation piece can become the perfect ornamentation to adorn the tops of so many surfaces. Interspersed among the basic elements of our interior domains, this object d’art can be a focal point or an element of surprise for those that meander through our spaces. A monument of the past honored in the present. Bust sculptures add character and a sense of timelessness. The ageless appeal of the sculptural bust will always live on, immortalized. Indeed, a bust is one voice. Kristin “All objects have their givens, their natural environment, whether it’s a candlestick or sofa. I like to go against type. When something is put in an expected setting, it’s not demanding anything of you, and you stop seeing it.

You must allow a viewer to communicate with it.” – Vincente Wolfe Greek and Hellenistic Busts - Greek Hellenistic Macedonian - Civilization Greek and Hellenistic Busts Greek and Hellenistic Busts Greek and Hellenistic Busts Reproductions A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual. Our busts of famous Greek and Macedonians are made of marble, cast stone, bonded bronze, and lost wax bronze. Included are busts of Alexander the Great and Pericles, but also of virtually of all gods – Athena, Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Hera, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Pan, to name the most famous. Sort By Egyptian Art Egyptian Art Earliest History The art of pre dynastic Egypt (c.4000ï¿½3200 B.C.), known from funerary offerings, consisted largely of painted pottery and figurines, ivory carvings, slate cosmetic palettes, and finely worked flint weapons.

In painting, a monumental treatment was given to designs like those drawn in red on buff-colored pottery from Hieraconpolis, a palace city of upper Egypt. Toward the end of the pre dynastic period, sculptors began to carve monolithic figures of the gods from limestone, such as the Min at Coptos. In the proto dynastic and early dynastic periods (3200ï¿½2780 B.C.) some Mesopotamian motifs began to appear. The craftsmanship of the finely worked stone bowls and vases of these periods is particularly remarkable. Oldest carving in Egypt, as old as 12000 years Art of the Old Kingdom Royal and private statuary, as well as wall paintings and reliefs, reflected the concepts of art that served the cult of the gods, the kings, and the dead. In royal statuary, traditional poses are combined with idealistic features. The statuary was designed to depict royalty as physically strong with softened features, sometimes with touches of realism.

This can be traced in the sculpture of King Djoser, the only surviving statuette of King Khufu, the figure of King Khafra in different stones, the schist triads of King Menkaure, and the head of King Userkaf. The private statuary followed the same concepts, but had more freedom in movement and more varieties of poses. Artists created seated scribe statues or figures standing, kneeling, or praying and others busy in domestic works. Examples are the statues of Prince Ra-hotep and his wife Nofret, which look like real humans because of the colors and the inlays of the eyes. The wooden statue of Ka-aper, with a realistic modeling of the features and the body, his other bust, and that of his wife, are additional examples of private statuary. Wall spaces in the tombs and temples began to use reliefs and paintings to depict daily activities in homes, estates, and workshops. There were also scenes of entertainment as well as offerings. Such reliefs and paintings were sometimes executed to depict the activities of working groups, animals, and birds. Sunken or raised relief and paintings were well proportioned and composed with fine details, especially in the Saqqara tombs.

With the beginning of the Old Kingdom, centered at Memphis (2680ï¿½2258 B.C.), there was a rapid development of the stylistic conventions that characterized Egyptian art throughout its history. In relief sculpture and painting, the human figure was usually represented with the head in profile, the eye and shoulders in front view, and the pelvis, legs, and feet in profile (the law of frontality). There was little attempt at plastic or spatial illusionism. The reliefs were very low; relief and shallow intaglio are often found in the same piece. Color was applied in flat tones, and there was no attempt at linear perspective. A relief masterpiece from the I dynasty is the palette of Namer (Cairo). It represents animal and human forms in scenes of battle with the ground divided into registers and with emphasis on silhouette in the carving. In statuary in the round various standing and seated types were developed, but there was strict adherence to the law of frontality and a tendency to emphasize symmetry and to minimize suggestion of movement.

Outstanding Old Kingdom examples of sculpture in the round are the Great Chephren, in diorite, the Prince Ra-hetep and Princess Neferet, in painted limestone, the Sheik-el-Beled (mayor of the village), in painted wood (all: Cairo), and the Seated Scribe, in painted limestone (Louvre). Probably because of its relative impermanence, painting was little used as a medium of representation; it appears to have served principally as accessory to sculpture. A rare example is the painting of geese from a tomb at Medum (Cairo). Religious beliefs of the period held that the happy posthumous existence of the dead depended on the continuation of all phases of their earthly life. The artist's task was therefore to produce a statement of reality in the most durable materials at his command. Tombs were decorated with domestic, military, hunting, and ceremonial scenes. Entombed with the deceased were statues of him and of his servants and attendants, often shown at characteristic occupations.

The Middle Kingdom The Middle Kingdom, with its capital at Thebes (2000ï¿½1786 B.C.), was a new age of experiment and invention that grew out of the turbulence of the First Intermediate Period (2134ï¿½c.2000 B.C.). The forms of the Old Kingdom were retained, but the unity of style was broken. Increasing formalism was combined with a meticulous delicacy of craftsmanship. The paintings of the rock-cut tombs at Bani Hasan (e.g., Slaves Feeding Oryxes and Cat Stalking Prey, Tomb of Khnemu-hetep) are outstanding for freedom of draftsmanship. In sculpture the sensitive portraits of Sesostris III and Amenemhet III (both: Cairo) are exceptional in Egyptian art, which at all other times showed a reluctance to portray inner feeling. The New Kingdom The art of the New Kingdom (1570ï¿½1342 B.C.) can be viewed as the final development of the classic Egyptian style of the Middle Kingdom, a combination of the monumental forms of the Old Kingdom and the drive and inspiration of the Middle Kingdom.

The paintings of this period are noted for boldness of design and controlled vitality. In sculpture the emphasis is on bulk, solidity, and impersonality. During the Amarna period (1372ï¿½1350 B.C.) a free and delicate style developed with many naturalistic tendencies and a new sense of life and movement. In sculpture the new style was carried to the point of caricature, e.g., in the colossal statue of Ikhnaton (Cairo). The outstanding masterpiece of this period is the painted limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti (Berlin Mus.). The delicacy, sophistication, and extreme richness of this style in its late period is best exemplified by the furnishings from the tomb of Tutankhamen. The Ramesside period (1314ï¿½1085 B.C.) saw an attempt to return to the classic formalism of the earlier New Kingdom, but the vitality that characterized that period could not be recovered. The sculpture, both in relief and in the round, became monotonous and even overbearing except in the numerous battle scenes.

The period of decline (1085ï¿½730 B.C.) is characterized by mechanical repetition of earlier forms in the major arts and by the introduction of satirical and often cynical drawings in the papyri. In the Saï¿½te period (730ï¿½663 B.C.) there was an attempt to return to the austerity of the Old Kingdom style, but for the simplicity of the earlier forms a coarse brutality was substituted. After the conquest of Egypt by the Assyrians in 663 B.C. all the arts declined with the exception of metalworking, in which a high standard of skill was maintained. Neither the Assyrian nor the subsequent Persian invasions left a mark on Egyptian art, and even under the Ptolemaic dynasty (332ï¿½30 B.C.) Egypt proved extraordinarily resistant to Hellenic conceptions of art. The ancient architectural tradition retained its vitality, as in the temples of Horus at Idfu and Isis at Philae, but painting and sculpture continued to decline.

Native naturalism may have influenced the painted Fayum panels and orant (praying) portraits on mummy shrouds, but neither their subjects nor their style is essentially Egyptian. The minor arts, however, continued to flourish; alabaster vases, faience pottery and figurines, glassware, ivories, and metalwork were produced with the ancient skill and in the traditional Egyptian style. Relief sculpture and painting For Egyptians the decoration of tomb walls with reliefs or painted scenes provided some certainty of the perpetuation of life; in a temple, similarly, it was believed that mural decoration magically ensured the performance of important ceremonies and reinforced the memory of royal deeds. The beginnings of the dynastic tradition can be found in tombs of the 3rd dynasty, such as that of Hesire at Saqqarah; it contained mural paintings of funerary equipment and wooden panels carrying figures of Hesire in the finest low relief (Egyptian Museum). Generally speaking, mural decorations were in paint when the ground was mud brick or stone of poor quality, and in relief when the walls were in good stone. Painting and drawing formed the basis of what was to be carved in relief, and the finished carving was itself commonly painted.

In tombs the mural decorations might be left unfinished, being only partly sketched or partly carved by the time of the burial. Uncompleted scenes reveal clearly the methods of laying out walls for decoration. The prepared wall was marked out with red guidelines, the grid described earlier being used for major human figures and sometimes for minor ones. Preliminary outlines were corrected and paint was applied usually in tempera, pigments being mostly mineral-based. In the Old Kingdom pure painting of the highest quality is found as early as the 4th dynasty in the scene of geese from the tomb of Nefermaat and Atet at Maydum. But the glory of Old Kingdom mural decoration is the low-relief work in the royal funerary monuments of the 5th dynasty and in the private tombs of the 5th and 6th dynasties in the Memphite necropolis. Outstanding are the reliefs from the sun temple of King Neuserre at Abu Jirab (ï¿½gyptisches Museum, East and West Berlin) and the scenes of daily life in the tombs of Ptahhotep and Ti at Saqqarah.The tradition of fine painting was continued in the Middle Kingdom.

At Beni Hasan the funerary chambers are crowded with paintings exhibiting fine draftsmanship and use of color. The best relief work of the period, reviving the Memphite tradition, is found at Thebes in the tomb of Mentuhotep II at Dayr al-Bahri and in the little shrine of Sesostris I at Karnak, where the fine carving is greatly enhanced by a masterly use of space in the disposition of figures and text. In the early 18th dynasty the relief tradition was revived at Thebes and can best be observed in the carvings in Hatshepsut's temple at Dayr al-Bahri. Later royal reliefs of Amenhotep III and of the post-Amarna kings show a stylistic refinement that was carried to its best in the reign of Seti I, at Karnak, at Abydos, and in his tomb at Thebes. The 18th dynasty also saw Egyptian painting reach its highest achievement in the tombs of the nobles at Thebes. The medium of decoration and an apparently greater artistic freedom led to the introduction of small, often entertaining details into standard scenes.

The tiny tombs of Menna and Nakht are full of such playful vignettes. The paintings in great tombs, such as that of Rekhmire, are more formal but still crammed with unusual detail. Fragments of mural and floor paintings from palaces and houses at Thebes and Tell el-Amarna provide tantalizing glimpses of the marsh and garden settings of everyday upper-class life. The fine royal reliefs of the late 18th dynasty were matched by those in private tombs at Thebes (Ramose and Kheruef) and Saqqarah (Horemheb); these are breathtaking in execution and, in the case of Horemheb, both moving and original. Interest in relief subsequently passed to the work in the temples of the 19th and 20th dynasties. The most dramatic subject was war, whether the so-called triumph of Ramses II at Kadesh (Thebes and Abu Simbel), or the more genuine successes of Ramses III against the Libyans and the Sea Peoples (Madinat Habu). The size and vitality of these ostentatious scenes are stupendous, even if their execution tends to be slapdash.

The artistic renaissance of the 25th and 26th dynasties is less evident in painting and relief than in sculpture. Although the fine work in the tomb of Montemhat at Thebes is distinctly archaizing, it is, nevertheless, exceptional in quality. The skills of the Egyptian draftsman, nurtured by centuries of exercise at large and small scale, remained highly professional. This skill is seen at its most consistent level in the illumination of papyruses. The practice of including drawings, often painted, in religious papyruses flourished from the time of the 18th dynasty and reached a high point around 1300 BC. The peak of achievement is probably represented by the Book of the Dead of the scribe Ani (British Museum), in the vignettes of which both technique and the use of color are outstanding. Subsequently, and especially in the Late Period, pure line drawing was increasingly employed. The earliest Egyptian art is very different from that of the pyramids and temples of the Pharaonic period. As early as the eighth millennium BC, the first inhabitants of the Nile Valley began to make engraved drawings on the cliffs, particularly in Upper Egypt and Nubia .

They depicted the fundamentals of their lives, from wild game and hunting scenes in the earlier times to river boats and herds of cattle in the early Neolithic period. The art of the Predynastic period has survived mainly in the form of small carved stone and ivory grave goods, together with pottery vessels, placed alongside the deceased in simple pit burials. The small votive figures of people and animals include many female statuettes made of pottery and ivory, whose exaggerated sexual characteristics suggest that they probably related to early fertility cults . Some of the painted scenes on pottery vessels continue, during the Predynastic period , to reflect the prehistoric rock-carvings, while others begin to display the styles and preoccupations of the Dynastic period. In the final stages of the Predynastic period, a range of unusual ceremonial artifacts, including maces, palettes and ivory handled flint knives, began to play an important role in the emerging religious ritual and social hierarchy.

Many of the more elaborate mace heads and palettes, such as those of the kings named Scorpion and Narmer , were discovered in a deposit of the temple at Hierakonpolis , and though the archaeological circumstances of their discovery are poorly documented, they were apparently meant as votive offerings. Their carved decoration appears to summarize the important events of the year in which they were offered to the god. However, it is unclear whether any of the scenes depicting historical events are real, or simply generalized representations of myth and ritual. In fact, this would be a problem with Egyptian art throughout the ages. A number of references on ancient Egypt insinuate that the Egyptians had no concept of the term, art. Indeed, we know of no word from the ancient Egyptian language that exactly conforms to our abstract use of the word. They did have words for their creations that we today regard as examples of Egyptian art, such as statues, stelas and tombs, but we have no reason to believe that these words necessarily included an aesthetic dimension in their meaning. Though the ancient Egyptians built and decorated their monuments, and cut their statues first and foremost for religious functionality, this does not mean that the Egyptians were not aware of and did not aim for an aesthetic content.

To represent was, in a way, to create, and Egyptian representation in both two and three dimensions was meant to create images that would function as a meaningful part of the cult of the gods and the dead. Statues were objects in which deities could manifest themselves, while images of the dead ensured their survival in the next world and formed a point of contact between this and the next domains, where the deceased could receive the offerings of the living. Depictions of temple cult ceremonies ensured their enactment for all time, and portrayals of offering goods meant that these items would be available in the next world. Furthermore, images of protective deities found in houses, on furniture and made into amulets created a powerful shield against the malign forces of the universe. Most of what we see of ancient Egyptian art, at museums or in books, are pieces that appeal to modern aesthetic tastes. Yet they represent only a selection of surviving Egyptian material and are usually pieces produced under royal patronage. For each of these pieces, there are many, many others collecting dust in museum reserve collections that are not so finely made. These latter items may demonstrate poor workmanship, unbalanced compositions, awkward proportions or clumsy execution, but they were came from the more common Egyptians.

Though these items lack the artistic quality of the more accomplished works, they must have still been thought to have functioned for the benefit of their owners. Hence, we must ask ourselves why those of power sought out the best artists, if not for their superior artistic abilities. And we must also question Egyptologists who tell us that art completely surrounded Egyptian religion , for it did not, nor may it have always served a specific function. We find, in tombs of common Egyptians, sometimes intricate scenes of daily life that seemingly have really very little mortuary functionality, but we also find designs on pottery and other items that today we would call art, and appear to have no further function than to adorn the pottery, making it more appealing. Indeed, while the ancient Egyptians may not have had an abstract word to denote art in general, they did appreciate fine designs and well decorated objects. However, it should also be pointed out that artists in ancient Egypt were very different than their modern counterparts. In ancient Egyptian society , conformity and not individualism was encouraged, and there was hardly a place for an artist with a personal vision that broke the accepted norms. In fact, Egyptian artists usually worked in teams and according to strict guidelines, even though their works might be highly regarded.

This does not mean that artists could not experiment and innovate within certain limits. Many of the fundamentals of Egyptian art were established at the very beginning of Egyptian history and changed little over time. Subject matter also remained relatively unchanged over long periods of time. However, Egyptian art did not remain completely static over the three thousand years of pharaonic history. Despite the limited repertory of subject matter, Egyptian artists valued variation and avoided producing exact copies of the same forms. To understand most of the Egyptian artwork that we see in museums and books, we must understand that it was produced by elite Egyptians, mostly for specific functions, and that it was an integral part of their world view. It is important that we understand the purpose of the artwork, or the concepts that shaped it, because a lack of such information has often led people to unfavorably compare it to the art of other cultures. For example, while the ancient Egyptians produced sculptures that were intricately detailed and lifelike in many ways, they never turned the body and twisted it through space as we find in classical Greek statuary. Egyptian artists sometimes got left and right "muddled, and never seem to have discovered the rules of geometric perspective as European artists did in the Renaissance.

In fact, such shortcomings had little if anything to do with the ability of the artists, and everything to do with the purpose for which they were producing their art. Egyptian art was not intended to merely imitate or reflect reality, but to replace and perpetuate it. Hence, for example, the religious ritual known as " the opening of the mouth " was not just performed by Egyptian funerary priest on the mummy of the deceased, but also on his or her statuary. Egyptian art was concerned above all with ensuring the continuity of the universe, the gods, the king and the people. The artists therefore depicted things not as they saw them but as idealized symbols intended to be more significant and enduring than was otherwise possible in the real world. The best, most inspired Egyptian art therefore blends the real with the ideal. The essential elements of art during the Old Kingdom were the funerary sculpture and painted reliefs of the royal family and the provincial elite. One of the most impressive statues to come from this period is the diorite figure of the seated Khafra , builder of the second pyramid at Giza ,.

On the simplest level, the statue is a portrait of a powerful individual, but is also made up of symbols that relate to the general role of the pharaoh. His head and neck are physically embraced by the wings of a hawk representing the protective god, Horus , who was also the divine counterpart of the mortal ruler. His throne is decorated on either side with a complex design consisting of the hieroglyph meaning "union" tied up with the tendrils of the plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, all of which symbolizes the unified state over which he ruled. In the same manner, an alabaster statue of the 6th Dynasty ruler Pepi I has the rear of the throne carved to imitate a serekh with Horus perched on the top. After the Old Kingdom , centralized power within Egypt declined into what we refer to as the First Intermediate Period. This decline in power resulted in a period when provincial workshops at sites such as el-Mo'alla and Gebelein began to create distinctive funerary decoration and equipment rather than being influenced by the artists at the royal court, as they were earlier during the Old Kingdom and later during the Middle Kingdom .

During the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian art is exemplified both by the fragments of reliefs from the royal pyramid complexes at Dahshur, el-Lisht, el-Lahun and Hawara, and by the spacious tombs of the governors buried at Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt. In the latter, the traditional scenes of the deceased receiving offerings or hunting and fishing in the marshes are joined by large depictions of wrestling and warfare, perhaps copied from Old Kingdom royal prototypes. The history of the Middle Kingdom is very much characterized by a tension between the artistic styles of the various provincial sites and the styles of the royal workshops at Itjtawy, the new capital established near el-Lisht. Only by the late Middle Kingdom does the distinctive provincial styles become eclipsed by the art of the royal workshops.. After the Middle Kingdom , Egypt was ruled for a period of time by Asiatics, who gained control of a considerable area of the country. The works of art surviving from this phase show that the foreign rulers simply re-used and copied traditional Egyptian sculptures and reliefs in order to strengthen their claims to the throne. After these foreign rulers were expelled, Egypt entered one of it's most grand periods, the New Kingdom .

The grand art of this period actually varied considerably so that we have the very formal art found in the great temples such as Karnak and Luxor , the tombs in the Valley of the Kings , and the private artisans' tombs at Deir el-Medina , with their intimate details. Art during this period also varied because of radical religious changes, such as the Amarna period which resulted in a dramatic change in art styles .. After the New Kingdom , the rapidly changing artistic styles of the first millennium BC demonstrate that Egyptian art could assimilate new possibilities while retaining its essential character and integrity. During the Late Period , when Egypt had really already lost much of its prestige, Egyptians attempted to revive the classic images of the Old and Middle Kingdom , which must have symbolized a lost sense of stability and certainly. Then, after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander The Great , the nature of Pharaonic art was adapted to create a compromise between the needs of the native Egyptians and the preferences of the New Greek, and later Roman rulers. Though from this period we have some of the largest surviving religious buildings, the reliefs were beginning to appear mass produced and repetitive, and the artwork was increasingly poorly formulated and executed.

However, at the same time, there were new cultural elements absorbed from the Mediterranean word, such as the Fayoum mummy paintings . Most all three-dimensional representations, whether standing, seated or kneeling, exhibit what is called frontality. That is, they face straight ahead, even though at times they may be striding. Were it not for our understanding of their purpose, it might be easy to criticize their rigidity that remained unchanged for three thousand years, particularly when viewed outside of their original context. However, such statues were not produced as pure art, but rather to play a primary role in the cults of the gods , kings and the dead. They were places in which these beings could manifest themselves in order to be the recipients of ritual actions. Hence, it made perfect sense to show the statue looking forward at what was happening in front of it, so that the living could interact with the divine or deceased recipient. Furthermore, such statues were very frequently enclosed in rectangular shrines or wall niches with an opening only in the front, making it natural for the statue to display frontality. Other statues were frequently placed in pillared courts, where they would typically be situated between pillars, and frontality worked perfectly for this context as well.

Most of the statues produced in ancient Egypt were made of stone, wood or metal. Stone statues were produced usually from a single rectangular block. Stone between the arms and the body, as well as between the legs in standing figures or the legs and the seat in seated ones, was commonly not cut away, adding to the strength of the physical sculpture. This method also added to the image of strength and power of the being depicted, and frequently the statue was "engaged" to the front of a pillar or column which added to this effect. Wooden statues, on the other hand, were generally carved from several pieces of wood and pegged together, while metal statues were either made by wrapping sheet metal around a wooden core or cast by the lost wax process. In these, the arms were sometimes held away from the body and could carry separate items in their hands. However, though wooden and metal sculptures have a completely different effect, altogether lighter and freer than their stone counterparts, they still display frontality. There was one other type of statuary aside from those depicting deities, kings and other elite members of society. These small statuettes depicted generic figures, frequently servants, from the non-elite population.

Their function varied considerably from other statues, for these were made to put in tombs of the elite in order to serve the tomb owner in the afterlife. These funerary figurines depict a wide range of actions, from grinding grain to making music, while some are simply standing figures, depending on the time frame in which they were produced. They were not used in any cult, and are not meant to help perpetuate the existence of a particular person. In effect, they are merely a component of the overall funerary equipment placed in tombs for the benefit of the owner. Unlike formal statues, these were not limited to static poses. Depending on the activity in which they are engaged, they may be bending or squatting or take another position suitable to their work. In fact, it is the action and not the figure itself that is important. Producing the three dimensional world on a two dimensional surface is very different than working with statuary. In a number of cultures, artists have found ways by which to obtain the illusion of the third dimension, adding depth to their work, while in others the two-dimensionality of the drawing surface has been accepted and even exploited. The ancient Egyptians belong to this latter group.

Rather than attempting to create the appearance of depth, they instead arranged the objects they wished to depict over the flat drawing surface. Such objects were drawn using their most characteristic and easily recognized aspect, usually in profile, full view, plan or elevation. Because these different views can occur together in the same picture plane, the result is not rendered as though from a single viewpoint. Rather, it is a composite assemblage containing information that can be interpreted by the educated viewer. The human figure was usually formed from a composite built up from its individual parts. Hence, the head may be shown in profile, though with a full view of the eyebrow and eye set into it. The shoulders of formal figures are most usually shown frontally, while the waist, buttocks and limbs are in profile. Normally, the nipple on male figures and the breast on females are drawn in profile on the front line of the body, while items that lie on the chest such as collars, necklaces, pectorals and clothing are shown in full frontal view on the expanse of the torso framed by the front and back lines of the body. The navel is shown full view and is placed inside the front line of the body at the appropriate level.

Prior to the 18th Dynasty , the two feet are depicted identically from the inside, showing the big toe and the arch. Later, the near foot was increasing shown from the outside with all the toes showing. Even when the figures on the walls of Egyptian tombs and temples are acting out myths, rituals and historical events, they are nevertheless carved or painted with the stiffness and formality of hieroglyphs . The ancient Egyptians sought order in their world, and it was also fundamental to their art. Only when the concept of chaos was intended, were figures placed haphazardly on the drawing surface. Otherwise, they were set within a system of registers, the lower border of which acted as the ground line for the figures within the register. The position of figures within a scene could be determined by the viewer according to several rules. Objects could be overlapped within the register, which means that the object partially covered by another is farther away. Items higher up in the register are further away than those lower down. The hierarchical ordering of society was reflected in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional art by scale. Hence, the king's figure is usually the same size as the gods whom he interacts with, though larger than his queen, children or subjects.

Whether in two or three-dimensions, Egyptian art was usually combined with text. Short captions might describe the figures depicted and the actions taking place, while longer texts included requests for offerings for the dead, hymns to deities, works spoken by deities to the king, etc. The hieroglyphic texts within any scene typically formed an integral part of the whole composition. Because the blocks of hieroglyphic texts was often set against representational elements, the composition would lack balance without them. In fact, hieroglyphs were small images drawn according to the principles that underlie Egyptian two dimensional art. Nevertheless, the images often do not resemble the objects that they describe, but are phonetic, representing different consonantal sounds in the Egyptian language. However, other hieroglyphs are logographic, representing literally or metaphorically an object or idea. Interestingly, hieroglyphs can act as determinatives. That is, they are placed at the ends of individual words to "determine" a category. For example, the name of a man may be followed by an image of a man identifying the word as a man's name.

However, so clearly connected is art and hieroglyphs that when a figure is identified by its name in hieroglyphs , the expected determinative is usually omitted because the picture the name identifies acts as its determinative. Usually, the orientation of scenes in two dimensional art for hieroglyphs and figures was facing to the right. However, it was not uncommon for both to also face left, dictated by the circumstances, or for the hieroglyphs to be written in horizontal lines or vertical columns. Of course, this allowed for considerable versatility and subtlety when combining text with depictions. Usually, hieroglyphs faced the same direction as the figures they refer to, and in fact, the art was intended to be read like an elaborate code much like the hieroglyphic text. The mediums with which Egyptian artists worked were varied. One of the most easily obtained was limestone, which composed the cliffs to either side of much of the Nile Valley. Other common soft stone materials included calcite (Egyptian Alabaster), a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, sandstone, schist and greywacke.

Harder stones included quartzite (a crystalline form of sandstone), diorite, granodiorite, granite and basalt. Stone was almost always used in royal free standing and rock cut temples and tombs after the earliest periods. It was also used to make statues, stelae, offering tables, libation bowls, vessels and other ritual equipment. Soft stone, whether cut in place such as a rock cut tomb, or carved into blocks as in free standing temples , was usually covered by plaster prior to being decorated. Paint was sometimes also applied to hard stone, but often it was left visible for its symbolism. Hence, black stone such as granodiorite was representative of the life giving black silt left by the Nile inundation , thus symbolizing new life, resurrection and the resurrected god of he dead, Osiris . Red, brown, yellow and gold were associated with the sun, and so stones of those colors, such as red and brown quartzite and red granite, symbolized the sun. Green stone referred to fresh, growing vegetation, new life, resurrection and Osiris as well, who sometimes appears with black skin and sometimes green. Limestone and other soft stones were carved with copper chisels and stone tools.

Hard stones were worked by hammering and grinding them with tools made of even harder stone together with sand, which is basically quartz, acting as an abrasive. Stone vessels were hollowed out using drills with copper bits, together with an abrasive. These tools were also used to apply details and inscriptions to hard stone monuments. Afterwards, the finished object was polished with a smooth rubbing stone. If the stone was to be painted, the surface had to be smoothed and any holes in the stone or joints between blocks filled in with plaster. Scenes on stone surfaces were often cut into relief before painting (or when not painted at all). There were two main types of reliefs, consisting of raised and sunk relief. In both, chisels were used to cut around the outlines of figures. Then, in raised relief, the stone of the background was cut away, so that the figures were left standing out from the surface. In sunk relief, it was the figures that were cut back within their outlines, leaving the surface of the background at a higher level. In both methods, the figures were modeled to a greater or lesser extent within their outlines.

Traditionally, sunk relief was used on outside walls and raised relief on interior walls, because bright sunlight has the effect of flattening raised relief and enhancing sunk relief. It should be noted that such work could also be applied to plastered surfaces on soft stone. In Theban tombs which were often simply painted, as opposed to relief-cut, rock cut walls, the walls were first covered with mud that was then plastered before painting. Treated similarly to soft stone, mudbrick was used in houses, palaces and other public buildings. And like the walls in Theban tombs , the mud was prepared for decoration with a layer of plaster. Prior to actually painting the prepared surfaces of stone or plaster over stone or mudbrick, scenes were laid out by first marking off the area to be decorated and then drawing in the initial sketches in red, to which corrections were often made in black, probably by the master draughtsman in charge of the project. Squared grids were introduced at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom . Used to assist the artist in obtaining the proper proportions of their figures and often also to lay out the composition as a whole, the grids were drawn out on the surface before the scene was sketched in.

The lines of the grid were either drawn against a straight edge, or more commonly made with a string that was dipped in red paint and stretched taut across the surface before being snapped against it like a modern chalk line. The sketches were drawn with brushes, similar to those that were used by scribes. They were made from fine reeds that were trimmed at one end to an angle and chewed or split to fray the fibers. For the actual application of paint, thicker brushes were made from fibrous wood such as palm ribs, or from bundles of twigs tied together that were than beaten at one end to separate the fibers and make a course brush. Pigments for paint came primarily from minerals that occur naturally in Egypt and the surrounding desert. White was usually made from calcium carbonate (whiting) or calcium sulphate (gypsum). However, huntite, which was already in use during the Middle Kingdom , and which became common during the New Kingdom , produced a more intense white. It was frequently used to paint white areas, such as clothing, so that it would stand out against the less white background of calcium carbonate. Black was produced from one of several forms of carbon, most commonly soot or charcoal.

Ochre (iron oxide) could produce a range of colors from light yellow to dark brown depending on the level of hydration. It was frequently used for reds and yellows. During the New Kingdom , realgar was also used for red, but is unstable in light, and has often degraded over time to yellow. Orpiment was used from the Middle Kingdom onward to obtain a very bright yellow that was used to simulate gold. However, it fades in light to a dull off-white so that its effect is often lost. Jarosite was also used to produce a pale yellow. The artists used different yellow pigments side by side, showing that they were not mere substitutes for each other. Blue was sometimes provided from azurite (copper carbonate), which over time becomes green as it changes to malachite, another form of copper carbonate. However, Egyptian blue was more common, which consisted of a compound made from heating quartz, ground malachite and calcium carbonate together. Different shades of blue were obtained according to the way in which the resulting compound was ground for use, since the finer the grain the paler the blue. Green rather than blue could be produced if the proportions of malachite and calcium carbonate were varied.

However, green was more frequently made from naturally occurring malachite. Sometimes, the pigments were mixed together to make different colors prior to application. For example, black might be mixed with white to obtain gray, or red and white to make pink. Pigments were prepared by grinding them on a hard stone mortar before mixing them with a medium such as plant gum or animal glue. Paint was laid on in flat washes, pigment by pigment, so that painters mixed as much of one color as they needed, painted in all the appropriate areas, and then moved on to another color. However, colors could also be painted over one another in layers to obtain different color effects. The final stage of painting was to outline figures and add interior details with a fine brush. Many details in relief work and on statues were often only added in paint and not cut into the stone. No discussion of stone art would be complete without reference to Ostracons, rock fragments that were used for various purposes. They were generally discarded fragments, which were frequently used to draw plans and sketch out drawings. However, some of the most interesting artwork ever produced in Egypt were recorded on their small surfaces, usually by craftsman, but also by anyone else.

They were the scratchpads of ancient Egypt, used by the common man to do the ancient equivalent of doodling. As such, there were no real rules that applied and so we find a completely unique art form known perhaps no where else in Egypt other than perhaps the graffiti drawn on the faces of cliffs. Even though Egypt has very little wood , there is nevertheless a long tradition of working with this material. Most Egyptian timber consists of tamarisk, acacia and Sycamore figs, wood that tends to be irregular, small and knotted, at least in comparison to the coniferous wood imported from Syria. However, Egyptian artisans became skilled at piecing together uneven lengths of native Egyptian wood in order to build furniture, chests, coffins and even statues. Wood was shaped with chisels and adzes and the surface smoothed down with rubbing stones. Sometimes the surface of these objects were plastered over and painted, but on good quality wood, paint was sometimes applied to the wood itself. Egyptians worked with metals for earlier than many realize.

There are scenes in Old Kingdom tomb depicting metal working, and we know that they used copper from during the earliest periods, arsenic bronze (copper and arsenic) from the late Old Kingdom, and bronze (copper and tin) from the later Middle Kingdom . Gold and silver were also highly prized as precious metals, though initially silver was very rare. In addition to wood and stone, linen could also be plastered and painted to make decorated funerary and votive cloths. Alternating layers of linen and plaster were used to build up car tonnage, from which painted funerary masks , coffins and mummy wrappings were manufactured. We must also mention papyrus paper as a medium. It was primarily used as a writing surface for a wide range of administrative, economic, literary and ritual documents, but it was also used for other purposes. Specifically, papyrus was used for the production of funerary texts, such as versions of the Book of the Dead , which also included illustrations drawn and painted with the fine scribal brush. Other non-funerary papyrus were also sometimes painted or sketched upon with little or no text.

Metal was used in the production of statues, temple fittings and cult implements, jewellery and funerary equipment . Both silver and gold were used to product cult statues, which were then frequently inlaid with materials such as precious stones. Obviously, many of these statues did not survive, for they were repeatedly melted down for their valuable metal and stones. Gold and Silver were not used in religious statuary simply because of their value, but also because of the symbolism associated with these metals. Gold was considered the flesh of the gods, particularly the sun god, and silver was the material from which the bones of the gods were made. Furthermore, silver was associated with the moon, so lunar disks on statues were sometimes made from this material. The Egyptians also manufactured a material which we often call Egyptian faience or glazed composition. Faience consists of a quartz core with a glazed surface. The material could be modeled and molded, and because it was inexpensive, this material was used to mass produce many small objects such as statuettes, amulets, rings and ear studs. It was often made to imitate stone and used as a substitute for that material. The color of the glaze depended on additions to the basic mixture.

One of the most common colors was a blue-green, imitating turquoise, which was associated with the important goddess, Hathor , sometimes known as the "Lady of Turquoise". Also, the ancient Egyptian word for faience was tjehenet, from the root tjehen, meaning "to dazzle or gleam". Hence, the material also had a solar symbolism. For 3000 years the Ancient Egyptian people practiced an art form and style that is almost immediately recognizable as Egyptian. In those 3000 years there was almost no change in the style, meaning of color, or meaning of body placement in a painting, with the exception of the Armarna Period. To the untrained eye it would seem that the Egyptians were a people of little imagination to continue a style for so long, however to those who know anything about Ancient Egyptian art the story is quite complex. Egyptians used a special code of colors in each painting they did, with each color representing a different quality of the people represented. There were six colors the Ancient Egyptians used in their paintings red, green, blue, yellow, black, and white. They made these colors of mineral compounds and that is why they have lasted so long.

The color green was symbolic of new life, growth, vegetation, and fertility. Depictions of Osiris often show him with green skin. Red was the color of power it symbolized life and victory, as well as anger and fire. Red was associated with the god Isis and her blood, which red could also represent. It also represented the God Set who was considered evil and who caused storms. The color blue was the color of the heavens and the water and it symbolized creation and rebirth. The god Amun, who played a part in the creation of the world, is depicted with a blue face. Anything yellow symbolized the eternal and indestructible, the qualities of the sun and gold. It was the color of Ra and of all the pharaohs, which is why the sarcophagi and funeral masks were made of gold to symbolize the eternalness of the pharaoh who was now a god. The color of death was black. Black also represented the underworld and the night. Both the gods Anubis and Osiris were depicted in black as the gods of the embalming and the afterlife respectively. Lastly white was the color of purity, it symbolized all things sacred and simple.

Normally used in religious objects and tools used by the priests. The same way that the colors of Egyptian art meant something so did the position of the figures represented. The figures were usually shown motionless or only walking. See for an idea of the common positions and their meanings. There are a few other identifying features of Ancient Egyptian art that are common throughout time. In nearly all paintings the heads of the people were represented from the side with one eye staring out of the side of the face. The arms and legs of the person are also in profile but the mid-body is facing forward. This made the figure look twisted into a position nearly impossible to achieve in reality. Another aspect of the Ancient Egyptian painters was to depict the gods, pharaohs, or other important figures as larger than the other people in the painting to signify their higher importance. So although it may seem strange to us that the Egyptians didn't change their style for so long it did have a reason. The lack of change, especially in painting commissioned by the pharaoh, connect each ruler to the last and was seen as evidence of that they belonged in this continuing line. Send mail to ziad@perankhgroup.com with questions or comments about this web site. Per Ankh Trading cc Reg.

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Question: In sculpture, what is the name for the upper part of a human figure, depicting the head and neck plus all or part of the chest and shoulders
Answer: Bust