Ancient Egypt, 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 (Ägyptisches 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.
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