The functions of beauty: Ancient Egyptian art forms

Ancient Egyptian art is five thousand years old. We are all familiar with its distinctive representation and style, and of course, with the historical figures which made its art and culture famous the world over: Ramesses the Great, Nefertiti (below right), Akhenaten, and of course, King Tut-Ankh-Amun. Expressed in painting, sculpture and architecture, the art forms of the Ancient Egyptians are symbolic and fascinating, and of course intended to keep history alive.

In a narrow sense, Ancient Egyptian art refers to the canonical 2D and 3D art developed in Egypt circa 3000 BC and used until approximately the 3rd century. The majority of elements in Egyptian art remained remarkably stable during that time period without incorporating any outside influences.The same basic conventions and quality of observation started at a high level and remained near that level over that entire time period.

So what, you ask, are the most important influences that dominated the character and style of Ancient Egyptian art? Regularity of features, keen observation, and exact representation of 3D forms are all definite factors. Although we are still stunned today by the sheer beauty of tomb art in particular, "prettiness" was not as important to the Egyptians as completeness and exactness of representation.

Why is that? The answer is simple: the Egyptians were a highly religious race of people, whose lives were lived based on strict religious principles. Many of the works of art that have come to light in the previous centuries depict a wide variety of gods, goddesses and Pharaohs, who were consdered appointed by the gods to rule on earth. Ancient Egyptian art is characterized by the idea of order. Crisp, cleanly delineated forms combined with simple shapes and flat areas of color helped to create a sense of order and balance in the art of Ancient Egypt. The artists of the time used vertical and horizontal reference points in order to maintain the correct proportions in their work. Political and religious as well as artistic order was faithfully maintained over the years. In order to clearly define the social heirarchy of a situation, figures were drawn to sizes based on their importance rather than their distance from the painter's point of view. For example, the Pharaoh would be be the largest figure in a painting (see above left), no matter where he was situated; a "greater" god would be composed on a larger scale than a "lesser" god; or a mere man being compared to a god (see below right, the god Anubis weighing a human heart).

Symbolism also played an important role in establishing a sense of order. Symbolism, ranging from the Pharaoh's regalia (which symbolized his power to maintain order) to the individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses, was omnipresent in Egyptian art. Animals were also considered symbolic figures. The most prevelant of these would be the cat, an animal strongly revered in those days, and representative of the cat goddess, Bastet.  (below left).

Colors were also symbolic; blue and green represented the Nile and life, yellow stood for the sun god, and red represented power and vitality. As stilted as some of the human figures appear to us now in this day and age, the artists in Ancient Egypt show a sophisticated knowledge of anatomy and a close attention to detail, especially in their rendtions of animals.

Tomb art in particular had another important function, one that we find odd today. The painted figures, as well as ceramic figures, were intended to accompany the deceased upon his/her journey into the afterlife, either to keep him company or as slaves to serve his needs. Artists endeavoured to preserve everything of the present time as clearly and permanently as possible.

Basically, we could say that Egyptian art in all of its forms obeyed one law, and one law only: the mode of representing man, nature and the environment ramained almost identical for thousands of years, and the most admired artists were those who replicated the most admired styles of the past.

Next time we will take a look at other forms of Ancient Egyptian art and how they related to everyday life, as well as how gender roles were portrayed. Stay tuned.