Ancient Egyptian Art - Research Paper Example

The explanation for the stability and mostly unchangeable character of Egypt’s art traditions can be found through the knowledge of the original function of the movement. Whether paintings on walls or carved reliefs – nearly all samples of artwork executed in a two-dimensional system and all examples of Egyptian architecture and statues are in some way tied in with the religious beliefs of the Egyptian religious culture or the idolization of the gods and kings. Pyramids, which are magnificent and unique art works themselves, contain various artifacts.

Those, in the time of their creation and use were considered to have the ability to break through the bounds of life and death. There are many examples of the belief in the transcendent abilities of certain objects, such as the fact that an image of food inside the tomb was considered to have an ability in the afterlife to feed the soul of the one buried; another sample is the belief that if the sarcophagus will bear the impression of the deceased and will be adorned with his names and titles that would forever save him a place among the living.

(Janson 49). As we know, very little art of the Egyptian era existed for pure aesthetic purpose. Most artifacts, which we deem to be art today, had a completely different purpose in their time. When we use the term “art” here, it is a very relative concept. . We look at a beautiful picture or object of handcraftsmanship and say: “This is a work of art”. Whereas four or five millennia ago everything one owned was made by hand. Therefore, when addressing the question of “function versus art”, we must bear in mind the era, wherein the art we discuss was created and the view of society of its time on it.

(Panofsky 191) The Egyptians had a few kinds of art form, as we perceive them to be. Sarcophaguses were created for the burial of prominent people of the Egyptian society. It was usually very richly decorated with jewels, which often formed pictures, names and symbols that provided information about the person buried in it. Another common art form in Egypt was the relief art. Images of the Egyptian relief art were carved into layers, which gave the picture a raised view, a depth. The material for carving varied.

In the Old and Middle Kingdom soft limestone was used, during the New Kingdom – sandstone. The images on the reliefs pictured almost everything pertaining to be part of the Egyptian lifestyle – feasting or working, religious rituals, burials, buildings etc. (Brewer 171) The creation of statues was another widely practiced art form. Most statues pictured gods, goddesses, Pharaohs and their queens. The statues varied in sizes. One unique characteristic of Egyptian statues is that they were not meant to be copies of nature, but rather physical symbols of the nation’s religion.

An interesting norm for a statue creation was the requirement for it to be a youthful figure. Undeniably, Egyptian art had many interesting specifics. When we view Egyptian paintings and drawings, they look flat and appear very strange. This is because they were painted in a specific way in order to emphasize certain