Art History: Metjetji Statue - Essay Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Metjetji Statue Statues are built for various purposes including commemorating historical individuals or features as well as in marking the life of influential individuals who contributed to remarkable developments in life. Metjetji statue brings a conceptual illustration of Egyptian wooden sculptures. It depicts the second standing style in the old Kingdom of Egypt. The statue is the actual representation of the Metjetji an ancient Egyptian artist. The statue depicts the appearance of a man in the sixth dynasty. The standing man brings the ideology of wisdom, independence and a sense of command of a youthful but aging male figure (Rank n.pg). The facial traits and appearance of the metjetji statue resemble the face of the king, who was believed to be the universe thriving god. The long nose and the oval shaped face clearly link the statue to the face of the Egyptian god. The arms and the standing pose of the metjetji statue indicate the gradual beginning of the second style in sculpturing arts. The statue looks sturdy and strong in form. The position of the limbs and the arms suggest motion. His upper limbs, the body excluding the head and neck and limbs as well as the legs show a feature of elongation. The statue portrays a man deprived of muscles, slim appearance, and perhaps a weak stature. There is an exaggeration of facial appearance; long nose, widely open eyes and long v-shaped chin. These appear to be more of feminist features rather than male facial features. Unlike other conventional artistic representations, this statue appears to have been exalted to an ideal perfection. Both the lower and upper arms appear to be more slender than expected for a man at his age. The statue has more female features than male features. It is believed that religious aspirations were behind the development of this statue in early sixth dynasty. Clearly, from all sides and angles of the statue it is hard to deduce his age. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that he might have been moving towards old age. Metjetji is depicted wearing a medium sized length kilt. Kilt was “a knee-length pleated tartan skirt worn by men as part of the traditional dress in the Highlands of northern Scotland. Kilt depicted old age that was characterized by wisdom” (Rank n.pg). The kilt has a front panel placed in a pleated design. This portrayed maturity and was believed to be the artistic symbol of independent and highly successful individuals in life. His long kilt signifies freedom and independence as well as sense of command. Walking freely in bare chest in only a kilt across the chest was a reserve for mature and successful individuals in the ancient Egyptian history. It is only a confident and successful man who could dress in such attire and move freely. To some extent, the statue also portrays pride of Metjetji. His pride goes far much more beyond his low energy look. Despite his slender look, metjetji statue conveys a pride that may be disguised. It is not always easy for a weak man to dress as the statue impression. The statue depicts some sense of command. It is an illustration of a powerful and highly influential man, a man who can command and advise the young men on what to do. His ego is also depicted in the statue. Metjetji statue expresses an inflated feeling of pride in the man’s superiority to others. The statue is an elaborate depiction of ancient Egyptian man. This is the front view of metjetji sculpture. It shows his right arm slightly bent forward and touching his kilt. The left arm is slightly embedded backwards showing some artistic impression of movement. The statue shows a big head with bulging behind, big open eyes, and ovular face with a v-shaped chin. The arms are slender and long and lack muscles. From appearance alone, the fingers look slender and very long. The kilt appears to be white in colour and pleated at the bottom. His chest seems to be slightly bulging up but the body shape appears to be slender at the waist. The large head and widely open eyes suggest wisdom. The position of hands suggests confidence and motion. Looking clearly at the front side of this sculpture, one can clearly tell the character of Metjtji. His look is suggesting a sudden outburst of anger. He seems to have been after something that was greatly affecting his mind. The statue of Metjet front view also suggests some form of old aging and loss of body musculature. This could suggest inactivity and poor diet treatment. The widely open big eyes could depict anger and some form of puzzling circumstances. His short cut hair depicts early signs of baldness and aging. From the front view, the statue paint also appears to be wearing out. The long nose depict sense The statue of Metjetji was found among the metri statue in Saqqara. Metjetji statue is believed to have been sculptured during the reign of Unas. It is unclear if Metjetji existed during the reign of Pepy 1 or if he did not. The facial features of this statue seem to be exaggerated. The statue exhibit several characteristics of the sixth dynasty. This statue indicates a full front view of a man with less musculature, big head, inlaid eyes, and a narrow body trunk, that has slender arms with long fingers. The artistic impression of the standing man dressed in kilt and in bare chest, illustrates old dynasty Egyptian dress code of men (Rank n.pg). The artist has incorporated several exaggerated features to bring a view of exclusive naturalistic details. There is appearance of disguised features in the statue that do not have a clear contrast. Resemblance of facial features to that of old Egyptian earthly god is controversial. The above statue originates from the Metjetji tomb. It depicts Metjetji career developmental stages characterized by various significant details. The statue has a thin trunk and depicts Metjetji at his middle age onset. It has exclusive details that portray him as a young and aggressive man. The statue shows a feature of young and stylish man taking steps. Metjetji appears in a lateral view dressed in a long kilt. The long kilt was a senior official dress won mainly by successful and wise men in old Egyptian dynasty. In the above statue Metjetji appears to have big inlaid eyes, long and slender hands characterized by long fingers. These features appeared on statues of that time and they were depiction maturity that was blended by wisdom. Metjetji statue is significant in the history of the old Egyptian kingdom. It portrays fundamental developments in the aging of Metjetji. It entails developments in dress code, maturity, and level of wisdom. It marks various principles that accompany the aging man. The big head and the widely open inlaid eyes are artistic impression to elucidate the physical appearance of a middle-aged man. The facial traits and appearance of the metjetji statue resemble the face of the king who was believed to be the universe thriving god (Rank n.pg). The long nose and the oval shaped face clearly link the statue to the face of the Egyptian god. The arms and the standing pose of the Metjetji statue indicate the gradual beginning of the second style in sculpturing arts. . It is an illustration of a powerful and highly influential man, a man who can command and advise the young men on what to do. His ego is also depicted in the statue. Metjetji statue expresses an inflated feeling of pride in the man’s superiority to others. The statue is an elaborate depiction of ancient Egyptian man. The statue looks sturdy and strong in form. The large head portray wisdom and command. The statue is a true reflection of appearance of middle-aged Egyptian man. From the discussion, it is evident that the statue portrayed more than just its physical appearance. Its various features depict wisdom, strength, and social status. Works Cited Rank , Garry. "The old Kingdom." Statues. Encyclopedia, 09 05 2005. Web. 7 Oct 2013. . Read More