Egyptian Artwork "Fragment Of a Wall Relief"
As I entered the upper Egyptian gallery at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology I noticed a women giving a lecture to a small group concerning some of the monuments in the gallery. Lucky enough, I got a chance to catch the end of her lecture, and coincidentally it was about this piece entitled "Fragment of a Wall Relief." This particular piece is from the Amarna period or 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt, dating from about 1367-1350 BCE. I picked this piece specifically because of the period in which it derives. The armana period has boggled me ever since we learned about it in class. In this paper I hope to uncover the historical significance of this piece and how it relates to this most unusual period.
The " Fragment of a Wall Relief" was presented free standing, but clamped to the floor with metal braces. I believe it stands at about seven and a half feet tall and about eight inches thick and is made out of quartzite. This monument is not placed behind glass or ropes, but simply placed in the middle of the floor for people to view from all sides. This was very surprising for me, not only due to the age of the monument but also it's state of preservation. I observed that at sometime this piece had been broken in two, and has since been repaired. The "front" Of this piece may be well preserved because it had been lying face down in the sand for quite some time before it had been excavated. This piece in general has been weathered due to sand and wind for some time, but again still is in good condition.
This "Fragment of a Wall Relief's" depiction of the setting at hand is pretty simple. At the very top of this monument, in the upper scene...
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...ing "Fragment of a Wall Relief," the Armana ideals are carried throughout. One thing I noticed, it seems that in all the monuments the hieroglyphics are placed strategically to balance out the scene. Along with this I noticed in both "Fragment of a Wall Relief" and "Akenaten and His family," they both had a vertical band of hieroglyphs running along the right hand side, both maybe creating space. All three of these monuments carry out Akenatens wishes by conveying Akenatens and his family's relationship to the god Aten.
To conclude, Akenaten had a profound influence on the Egyptian culture from art to their everyday way of living. Although this way of life did not prevail after his death, it still made a great impact on the way I view Egyptian art. I hope I uncovered why this piece is reminiscent of the Armana period and why it's historically significant.
Information from the textbook and Hays’s article help illuminate the events depicted and their significance in culture and art of the New Kingdom, and how the style ties into the art of the time.
...tion of the monument. The person can clearly see that the angel is looking directly down towards the man, in thus making the man as the implied shape of the Monument to Mignard painting.
Lin's work, unlike most previous military monuments, rejects the emphasis on heroics in favor of a poignant, contemplative, apolitical design which conveys an almost unbearable sense of loss. Simple, graceful, and abstract, the design specified two 246.75 foot long walls of polished black southern India granite, set below grade and connected at a 125 degree angle.2 Each segment of the wall is composed of 70 panels. At their intersection, the walls are 10.1 feet high and they taper down to a height of 8 inches at their extremities.3 The largest panels have 137 lines of names.4 The smallest panels have just one line. Each line consists of five names, which were sandblasted into the polished surface by hand, rather than cut into it with machine tools.5 Currently, the monument wall lists the names of 58,175 members of the armed forces who were confirmed killed or listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.6
My selected artifact is relief dating to Dynasty 18 in which Akhenaten is depicted as a sphinx, offering to the god Aten. Akhenaten wears the ureaus headdress, marking him as king of Egypt while two cartouches contain his official name. In addition to his cartouche, the relief contains the cartouches of Aten and Nefertiti, delineating the trinity of divinities that compose Akhenaten’s religion. Aten is depicted traditionally, as a sun disk, with his hands holding ankh symbols reaching towards offering tables in front of Akhenaten where the king holds a basket containing Aten’s titles inside. The inscription on the relief reads “great, living Aten”.
"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 B.C.). N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
The medium is Granodiorite and the technique used was sunken relief, which is a technique were the sculptor chisels deep outlines below the stone’s surface. The sculpture does not seem to be originally painted. The Egyptians created coloristic effects through contrasting shadows and highlights. They used natural pigments to color some sculptures, however this was not the case. There are deeply cut areas in the back of the statue that create deep shadows and the use of natural light helps to bring up the highlights. The granodiorite has natural colors that helped the sculptor show more of those shadows and highlights. The statue is mostly in a warm hue and it may be caused because of the lighting inside the museum. These warm colors make the details stand out more. At a closer look of the structure there are different colors that can be easily identified, such as white, yellow, brown, black, gray and small spots of orange. The statues seems to be carved in one piece. There are no signs indicating it
Two main devices used in Egyptian art from the fourth dynasty, that also help classify it, are a strive for naturalism and the use of sculpture in the round. In addition to the large burial monuments being built, portraiture became quite popular at this time in history. Paintings featuring humans used their own form of "sculpture in the round" by painting in ...
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ‘Egyptian Art’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Art. New Series, Vol. 41, No. 3, Egyptian Art (Winter, 1983-1984): pp. 1+3-56
In conclusion we see how integral a part stelas played within Egypt’s history. Like many other Egyptian art forms, its function and use changed over time but some styles revived themselves throughout the years. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of the largest collections of Egyptian art and although crowded on the day I went, it was nice to be able to see some of the things in practice. It was also interesting to note the resourcefulness of the Ancient Egyptians and how art forms reappeared after somewhat of a hiatus.
Carved from alabaster the over-life-sized statue shows a idealized depiction of ruler Khafre sitting eloquently in his throne. Riddled with indicative symbols and motifs the written language of the ancient Egyptians allows for historian to interoperate the meanings and purpose of the sculpture, and decipher the statements of divinity and the king power left behind by this ancient people. This funerary statue represents Khafre’s eternity a well as utilizing the expensive material as a testament of his importance and
The ancient world was truly a wonderful and interesting thing. Mankind developed and evolved greatly during this time. Also during this time, many advancements in technology helped lead to great master architecture. The Great Pyramid, Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia are some of these famous works. These masters of architecture can often be referred to the seven wonders of the ancient world. Sadly, all but one of these ancient wonders have been lost to the times, the only wonder that still remains is the Great Pyramid of Giza. The topic of my essay is Ancient Egypt. During the course of this essay the basic details of who, what, when, where, how and why will be discussed.
Ancient Egyptian’s lives were surrounded by art. The Invention of Art is a part of them up to this day. Other than Architecture, Painting was one of the major arts the Egyptians made. Artists were a big part of the society.
For quite some time now I have taken a great interest in Ancient Egyptian artwork and the history behind it. The Ancient Egyptian were once a powerful civilization, they left behind thousands of ancient enriched artifacts. Religion played a significant role in Ancient Egyptian artwork and had a huge influence on their civilization. The vast majority of Ancient Egypt artwork illustrates images of gods, goddesses, and rulers known as pharaohs. The Ancient Egyptians paid close attention to balance, proportions and rich details. If a person were to closely look at Egyptian art it would be clear to see that they used vibrant shapes with simple figures and smooth spaces of color assisting in creating a sense of direction and poise in
Many people are familiar with the pyramids and tombs of Ancient Egypt, yet not as many know about the different types of art created by the lower classes. Documentaries, movies, and television shows rarely mention the more standard art that was created, that didn’t take years of hard labor to create. This art can be compared to the drawings that many people make today, as a hobby to do in their freetime. The only difference is that the Egyptians made art for more practical purposes, and rarely for fun. You would likely find a lot of these pieces in plebian burial sites, or packed away in museum storage. Though they lack the renown of the pyramids and tombs, the different styles and types of art created by the Ancient Egyptians have just as much value as the larger accomplishments, but for different reasons.
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.