Fragmentary Head of Senwosret the Third and Nefertiti Bust, from Amarna - Case Study Example

of the Visual Art and Film Studies of the Teacher 8 April Original Work of Art/Compare and Contrast Art Work Selected Fragmentary head of Senwosret III, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1860 BCE, Red Quartzite, 6½”, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The given work is totally in contrast to the Old Kingdom artistic practices as it does not present the King Senwosret III depicting physical perfection and youthfulness. The other way this sculpture differs from the set conventions is that it comes out more of as a flat and two dimensional creation, which no way tends to convey the regality and grandness that the Old Kingdom Egyptian sculptures showed in the statues of the royalty. Thereby the statue comes out more of as a flat, dull and somewhat ordinary creation; breaking away from all the royalty like grandness and perfection that the statues of the Egyptian kings mostly showed. This fragmentary head of Senwosret III is made of red quartzite, which no way happens to be a very flexible and soft medium. Thereby, going by the hardness and uncompromising nature of the medium used, the facial features of the statue do come out as being flat, tough, non-emotional and hard. The material must have required the sculpture to craft the features of Senwosret III with hard and controlled chisel work, relying on a variety of diagonal cuts to convey facial features depicting a worrisome and aged person who has spent his life dealing with more than a fare share of problems. The burnt clay reddish color of the statue does bring in an element of orderliness and modesty to the statue. The rough nature of the medium chosen to make the statue that is red quartzite further highlights the intensely human and worrisome features of the face of Senwosret III. The overall impact that the sculpture depicts on the space it occupies does create and impression of a flat, worried and lifeless personality. The eyes are set deep, the eyelashes are arched and hanging, lacking the energy of youth and depiction of regal charm, and the lips are thin and indicative of a sad smile, so naturally highlighted by the medium used and the usage of short and hard chisel work. The artists has totally controlled oneself from giving way to a sense of perspective on the face, rather preferring to bring out the statue as being essentially flat, bothered and plain. The eyes have been made to be drooping, conveying an attitude of sadness and worry, so unlike the godlike regality and pride one sees on the Egyptian statues of the Old Kingdom royal personalities. The facial features are indeed well proportioned, the only way they seem to convey signs of physical perfection and charm. However, the thing is that the astonishing sense of proportion as evident on the face if on the one side conveys the importance of the personality whose statue it is; on the other side it enhances the orderliness, sadness, worry and an aged lack of vitality visible on the face. Going by the hard and controlled chisel work that went into the making of this statue does force the viewers to have a serious look at the statue and to clearly identify human aspects of one’s personality that an Egyptian king is trying to convey. The accurate proportions adhered to by sculpture in the overall composition do suggest the viewers to focus their attention on the face of the statue. The statue with respect to the color scheme does carry a pessimistic hue, adhering to a somewhat dark tonality and subdued intensity, which may have further been worsened by the impact of time. One could not help noting that though red quartzite is a medium marked with very strong limitations with regards to the art of sculpting, given the mood and intensity that the statue conveys, this medium did show much potential in the overall balancing of facial features. The sculpture has resorted to inwardly slanting lines around the eyes, lips and the missing nose to enhance the sad temperament evident on the face. The overall impression that the statue conveys is that of a worried and aged King who is trying to convey a very human aspect of his personality to the viewers. Art Work Selected for Comparison Nefertiti Bust, from Amarna, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1353-1335 BCE, painted limestone, 1’8” high, Agyptisches Museum, Berlin. The one way the bust of Nefertiti totally contrasts with the face of Senwosret is the royalty, grandness, charm and youthfulness that it does tends to convey. The regality in the bust of Nefertiti gets evident even at an informal level if one analyzes it in with relation to the face of Senwosret. The two statues happen to differ markedly in the overall persona and impression that they do tend to convey. The bust of Nefertiti is sculpted from limestone, a soft and flexible medium that is totally appropriate for carving out faces that are rich in terms of the physical beauty, youthfulness and political impact they tend to carry. In contrast the face of Senwosret III is sculpted from red quartzite, a hard and inflexible medium that is utterly suitable for dull, controlled and unemotional facial expressions. The other thing that contrasts these two works of art is their form and composition. If the face of Senwosret III comes out as a really two dimensional and flat creation, the bust of Nefertiti is marked with a three dimensional facial richness that is highly enhanced by the smoothness and finesse of the limestone. Texture does indeed happen to be one important aspect that highly differentiates the mood and political impact being conveyed by these two works of art. If the face of Senwosret III does stick to a straight, perpendicular and flattish linearity, the line evident in the bust of Nefertiti provide it with a royal temperament, youthful facial proportionality and political elitism. The overall objective of the sculpture is to carve out the face of a queen with the entire evident physical and political perfection and sense of royalty, rather than presenting the dull, sad and somewhat discouraged personality of an aging king, as one could see in the face of Senwosret III. The other thing that differentiates the bust of Nefertiti from the face of Senwosret is the rich use of colors adhered to by the sculptor. Limestone being a flexible and colorable material does strongly contrasts with the hardness and ruggedness of red quartzite. The bust of Nefertiti is rich with hues of multiple colors that depict much regality, charm, beauty and youthfulness. The facial tones are smooth and light, conveying a youthful persona, as compared to the subdued tonality of the face of Senwosret III, which is dull and unimpressive, conveying an overall persona of age and lack of vitality. The other important thing that differentiates the two works of art is the sense of proportion and scale. In the bust, the head of Nefertiti is somewhat disproportionate as compared to her face, with the borderlines of her headgear broadening wide with height, thereby conveying an aura of importance and royalty. However, in the face of Senwosret the sculpture does not resort to such extreme proportions that are so typical of the sculptures of the Egyptian royalty. In the bust the sculptor has resorted to soft and light chisel work with much polishing and paint work. In contrast the face of Senwosret III does show a much harder, disciplined and controlled chisel work, using rather a hard and limiting medium, with no intention of endowing the sculpture with any kind of hue or rich tonality. In the bust of Nefertiti, the artist has nowhere used slanting lines to make the face look heavier or aged, as is evident in the face of Senwosret where the sculptor has used slanting lines around the eyes, lips and nose to accentuate the age of the subject. Art Works Agyptisches Museum. Bust of Nefertiti. Berlin 2015. Web. 8 April 2015. Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Face of Senwosret. New York 2015. Web. 8 April 2015. Read More