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| Sculpture and Painting |
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Why did they draw and sculpt that way?
The Ancient Egyptians did not have a word that corresponds to our word
'art'. They do not seem to have made statues or paintings to collect or to
hang on the walls of museums and art galleries. But they loved to be
surrounded by beauty in life and in death. Their homes often had paintings
on the walls, and royal palaces had elaborately painted floors and
ceilings. Tombs were filled with as many statues, and as much carving and
painting, as the owner could afford.
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It may seem strange to think that some of the
most beautiful images we have of Ancient Egypt in fact come from tombs,
and would have seldom or never been seen by living people. Why would
anyone go to the trouble of making fine statues of himself or herself, and
then bury these where no one could see them?
Egyptian statues, wall paintings and carved stele were all functional. The
images we see of humans and gods, animals and plants, had a religious
intention. They were almost always part of the cult of a god or of the
dead. Statues were places where gods or deceased humans could manifest
themselves, places where a spirit could dwell. For non-royal people, the
images in the tombs were places of contact between the world of the dead
and the world of the living. The spirit of the dead could enter into an
image and thus be aware of, and partake of the food offerings left by the
living.
Images of battles, of hunting, of farming or family life, beautifully
carved into the walls of temples and tombs, ensured that these things
would continue forever. Scenes of religious rituals on the walls of
temples meant that, even if for some reason the king or the priests could
not perform the holy rites of the gods, these essential actions would
still go on.
b. Artists
Since the making of images was so important to Ancient Egyptian society,
artists and craftsmen were often privileged persons, enjoying a much
higher standard of living than farmers or craftsmen such as potters.
As far as we know, most of the Ancient images we see were made by men.
Boys would become their father's apprentices, and gradually learn their
father's craft and art. As in any society, there were highly skilled
craftsmen, and those who were not quite as good. When we visit Museums and
Art Galleries, and look into books on Egyptian Art, we tend to see the
work of the most skillful, paid for by the richest members of society.
It's important to remember, though, that less wealthy people also
commissioned statues and carvings. This work may be less appealing to us,
less 'beautiful' but it was just a functional, just as useful to the
owner, as the most wonderful statues made for kings and royal wives.
c. Materials
The Ancient Egyptian craftsmen knew their materials very well. Most
statues were made in limestone, a materials that is slightly softer and
easier to carve when freshly cut, and which hardens on exposure to air.
White limestone statues and wall carvings also take paint well, and often
statues survive from four thousand years ago, almost as fresh and bright
as the day they were painted.
Paints were made from mineral pigments, and this is why they have lasted
so well.
Black was made from carbon, sometimes from soot scraped from cooking
vessels. This material is often called lamp black.
Powdered charcoal was also used for black, and occasionally an ore of
manganese from the Sinai was used, though this was rare.
Blue:
Blue could be made from a ground up mineral, azurite, an ore of copper.
The usual blue, though, was an artificially created material, called
Egyptian Blue. It was a compound of silica, copper, and calcium. The three
materials were ground together (the copper in the form of malachite) and
heated with a mixture of calcium carbonate and natron, a form of soda.
This frit would have much more expensive to produce than colours made from
a single mineral. Though one sometimes reads that lapis lazuli was powered
to make ultramarine blue, or that turquoise was ground up to make pigment,
there is no evidence as yet that these substances were used. Both
turquoise and lapis would have been expensive stones in Ancient Egypt, and
used for jewellery.
Brown:
This colour was usually an ochre or iron oxide. Sometimes brown was made
by painting red over black. Brown ochre does occur in nature, in the
Dakhla Oasis, and could have been imported from there by artists.
Green:
The usual green of the Ancient Egyptians was malachite, an ore of copper.
Sometimes an artificial frit, similar to the blue, was made. Malachite,
ground to powder, was also used for eye shadow.
Orange:
Orange was usually made by painting red over yellow, or mixing red and
yellow ochres.
Pink:
Pink was seldom used in the Age of the Pyramids, but was more popular in
the New Kingdom. It seems to have been made by mixing red ochre and white
gypsum.
Red:
There are many natural iron oxides that produce red colours. Red iron
oxides (anhydrous oxides) and red ochres (hydrated oxides of iron) are
both used. These materials occur as amorphous earths. Hematite, a
beautiful metallic ore of iron, was not ground up for pigment, but was
used for beads, kohl sticks, scarabs, and other small objects.
White:
White may have been calcium carbonate (chalk) or calcium sulphate
(gypsum). Both of these natural materials are plentiful in Egypt.
Yellow:
At least two different yellow pigments were used. The most common is
yellow ochre, a naturally occurring ore of iron. The other is orpiment, a
natural sulphide of arsenic. Orpiment does not seem to have been used in
the Age of the Pyramids, but came into use in the New Kingdom. Other
yellows were sometimes used, such as massicot, a yellow oxide of lead.
Ochre with plant materials added to make a more intense yellow also
occurs.
Paint brushes were made of natural fibres, and come in many sizes, from
those used to white-wash whole walls, to fine brushes for detail.
Grid System:
Ancient Egyptian art often looks uniform. The people all seem to 'walk
like Egyptians' and the image of a row of seated or standing or walking
Egyptians is common. Part of this uniformity is due to the use of lines
and grids by the artists, to help them to line up images. If you look
carefully, you will see that knees, shoulders, and heads usually line up
in Egyptian paintings. This gives a pleasing harmony.
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