During my visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I observed and noticed numerous intriguing works of sculpture, artifacts and paintings. The two works of art I chose to do for my report were “Anonymous Official” (13th dynasty, Egypt 1783 B.C.), and the "Head from a Herm" (Greek, (first quarter of the 5th century). I picked these two specific artworks due to their facial expressions and portrayal. How the human face is portrayed and sculpted through different centuries creates a magnificent approach to understanding how people were seen in these particular time periods. We can compare the two unique works of art, from two diverse time periods, and look into the similarities and differences that were produced. The Greek and Egyptian time …show more content…
As for what I had been told visiting the Metropolitan Museum, a sculpture next to the “Anonymous Official”, was indistinguishable to the first that was assumed to be a relative of the man, in fact they were discovered together and they looked fundamentally the same. The Egyptians were a exceptionally isolated culture. They didn 't care for foreigns to enter onto their homeland. The Egyptian rule was separated into three subdivisions of time. The first being the Old Kingdom (3000-2155 B.C.), then by the Middle Kingdom (2134-1785 B.C.), and lastly ending with the New Kingdom (1500-1162 B.C.). The sculpture of the “Anonymous Official" was made in the Middle Kingdom time period. Amid the time of Egyptian govern a Pharaoh was thought to be the most elevated level that a man could reach. The belief the Egyptians had, of Pharaoh, was reflected in their specialty of art. Figures and sculptures of Pharaoh were flawlessly perfect figures (as for how they actual portrayed him; perfect). The figures had wide and throughly expressive eyes, which were thought to be “blessed and holy”. The figure "Head from a Herm" is accepted to be portrayed from the Greek god, Hermes. The head is likewise accepted to have originate from some kind of a Greek sphinx. The face structure of this figure is exceptionally characterized. The figure has hair, which is by all accounts the style of that time period. The way the
The lines along the headdress and cloth lead you toward the head, or focal point of this sphinx. Lines are also used to separate the king's head from the lion body. Lines are used to draw you into one point and help suggest the mass or volume of this sphinx. Since this is a three-dimensional figure the lines are implied unlike the defined ones in a two-dimensional figure. As you follow the lines you encounter the oval shaped head and thin lined eyes which are curved to show aging and are shaped as a geometric almond.
Ancient Greek art is something to be admired; the accuracy of the figures, compared to Egyptian art is commendable. The art works show great depths of emotion and detail. The “Grave stele of a little girl” is a beautiful relief of what appears to be a small child holding two birds. The forearm resembles a young child’s arm because it seems that the “baby fat” is still present, but it is strange that the face has less-childish features. The figure is in strict profile, which possibly suggests a Greek sculptor, in addition to the intricate detail and the contrapposto. Egyptian sculptors did not have
The ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek civilizations are two of the oldest known civilizations in our history. The Egyptian civilization, based in the eastern part of North Africa, is believed to have started around 3150 BC and continued till the end of the Pharaoh rule in 31 BC. The ancient Greek civilization is believed to have been in effect from 1100 BC till about 146 BC. Many similarities and differences existed between these two civilizations, as even though they co-existed during a certain timeframe (1150 BC to 146 BC), they were located in different geographical areas. Because of these differences in geography, both these civilizations were subjected to different kinds of exposure, which included contact with other civilization and cultural inheritance. In the political sphere, we find that the Egyptian civilization had stronger emphasis on central authority, while the Greeks had a more decentralized structure, where powers were distributed over the cities and the states as well. As far as art is concerned, we find that the Egyptians were more involved in creating great monumental and gaudy structures, while the Greeks were more involved in creating smaller, more literary pieces of art.
A formal analysis, contextualizing, and compare and contrast of the Egyptian sculpture of Isis nurturing Horus and the Byzantine icon, The Virgin of Vladimir
The revised back side "... is taken up by a finely carved...raised relief showing a king, undoubtedly Narmer, ready to strike down a foe whom he grabs by the hair. This pose would become typical in Ancient Egyptian art. He wears a short skirt, an animal's tail and the crown that at least in later
What makes the sculpture different from others of this time period are two things; the subject matter, in that it depicts no god, nor Pharaoh only a mortal human writing in a mostly illiterate society. Secondly it demonstrates age shown in sagging muscles and rotund belly. Due to this relaxed style we can gather that the subject is not a Pharaoh as it was dishonourable to insinuate that they aged as they were supposed to be gods on earth.
Despite the ancient Egyptians' conservative nature and keeping to their core values, there were many changes within the infrastructure of their society during the middle kingdom. When Historians and scholars study the Old Kingdom, and the Middle Kingdom, One will notice that alterations to their religion, art, and architecture changed through both periods in history. Internal forces, as well as outside influences, shaped ancient Egyptian civilization. One would argue that the terms Old, middle and knew Kingdoms were of a hellenistic idea, instead of a Ancient Egyptian Ideology. The Old Kingdom founds its reign lasted from 2700- 2200 B.C. This time period consisted of the third through the sixth dynasty, beginning with Djoser and ending
To start at the beginning or the Canon of these works of art would be to go to the Prehistoric times. To give some background about this time, the prehistoric period was art found when people were still living in caves and just starting the first civilization of humans. According to Smarthistory.org the oldest collection of ornamentation was found in Africa and being over 82,000 years old. The sculpture I'm going to be talking about from this period is the sculpture called “Lion-Human”. The Lion Human to me looks like a tall older man with the characteristics of a lion with a long mane with a long pointed nose. The artist used expressionism to show that the man had the qualities of a man but also had the inner workings of a lion. It was probably how he
The statue of King Sahure and a Nome god is an interesting piece of Ancient Egyptian art ( c. 2500 BC ) that shows signs of Ancient Egyptian culture and beliefs. The statue is a small relief sculpture, meaning the sculptural elements are attached to the solid background of the sculpture and appears to be emerging from the material. The piece clearly depicts two figures side by side, one standing on the left and one sitting on the right (facing foreward). The purpose of this piece was probably to depict a certain symbolic interaction between the two characters.
The main purpose of this paper is to describe the visual analysis of the artwork. This paper examines an Egyptian half nude portrait art which is taken from Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fig.1). The statue characterized both male and female seated figure with a Braid hair. In this essay, I will present a complete visual description of this artwork (its preservation, costume and iconography), and then I will compare it to another artwork which is chosen from Textbook that is Akhenaten and his Family (Fig. 2).
Ancient Egypt (3000 BCE – 30 BCE) and Ancient Greece (1200 BCE – 146 BCE) based their entire lives around their religious beliefs. These beliefs led to their religious practices which were included in every aspect of their lives. Since ancient Greece’s and ancient Egypt’s beliefs differ greatly, endless differences can be shown between their religious practices. However, between the two cultures, many surprising similarities can be seen in these religious practices despite the tremendous differences. Through learning about where their religious beliefs and practices started, the bigger picture of history in general can be learned. As well, the similarities between ancient Greece’s and ancient Egypt’s religious practices can be seen as not
Throughout different time periods and civilizations come many different types of art that would never be comparable to those of another time or place. There are also the pieces that come from a completely different time and place, but yet they can still be compared to one another. The Torso of a God (Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, last decade of the reign of Amenhotep III, Granodiorite, 1359-1349 B.C.) and the Statue of Asklepios (Greek, Hellenistic period, Pentelic Marble, 2nd century B.C.) are two sculptures made hundreds of years apart, yet they both display many similarities and show how art is constantly changing whilst keeping the same core ideas.
One day while looking closely at the Ancient Greek and Byzantine art I noticed that there was a new bust in a row of ten or so. Normally I would have paid little attention to them as they look rather similar. They each have distinctly European features, the subtly wavy hair is cast in seashells and straight pointed noses artistically chiseled in white marble. What caught my attention was that at the end of the row, covered in glass, was a bust that was very dark brown. The facial features were wide, the lips were full and the hair so tightly coiled that it would be impossible for the artist to have cast it out of shells. Sure enough, when I read the description of the piece it read “AFRICAN MAN” made from black marble, curls carved with a drill. I was incredibly impressed with the piece, it brought me the kind of unexplainable pride that one feels when their favorite team wins the game. The bust clearly differed from the normal collection but was no way was it out of place. It was simply another relic of the time. The museum patrons beside me
Conventions in art adopt to portray things in different ways and these conventions adopted by ancient Egyptian artists. Around 3000 BCE, Egypt was a consolidated state. Egypt was previously divided into two kingdoms, the Lower Egypt and The Upper Egypt. The powerful king of Upper kingdom conquered the lower kingdom. In the Predynastic period, Egypt unifies and this period was from 5000 to 2950 BCE.
A body can convey class, age, gender and sexuality. The ‘Bamana Twin Figures’ (Mali, 20th Century – Figure 1) is the representation of the Man and the Woman, a very powerful expression of male and female. Even though both their faces are exactly the same, the parts of the body can reveal the discrimination: genitalia, breasts and even hair. The reason why Egyptian art has not changed and looks very similar since 1479 – 1425 BCE up until now is very intentional; they are trying to maintain their cultural tradition in which argues for stability. The Egyptian pharaoh “Akhenaten’ (Figure 2) is unusual compared to other Egyptian figures, such as the traditional King, which has broad shoulders and muscular body. ‘Akhenaten’ is a lot softer and that encouraged people to think and believe that the body was portrayed in such way because of some sort of illness or disease, but Egyptian art was all about the concept and not the reality, it was just the idea of how it used