The art of Ancient Egypt was the most perfect and advanced among the arts of various peoples of the Ancient East. The Egyptian people were the first to create monumental stone architecture, realistic sculptural portraits, and beautiful handicrafts. Among the many achievements, the main one was the depiction of a person with an incomparably greater degree of realistic concreteness than before. Egyptian art for the first time began to depict a person in connection and comparison with other people, and discovered and established an interest in individuality. From the very beginning of the formation of class relations, art became a powerful means of influencing the consciousness of the masses with the aim of strengthening and exalting the power of the pharaoh and the slave-owning elite of society.

The Greeks and Romans paid attention to one of the most characteristic features of Egyptian art: long-term adherence to the patterns accepted in antiquity, because religion attributed sacred meaning to the artistic examples of antiquity. Because of this, in the art of slave-owning Egypt, a number of conventions were preserved, dating back to pre-class society and enshrined as canonical. For example, the image of objects that are actually invisible, but present; such as fish, hippos, crocodiles underwater; image of an object using a schematic listing of its parts; combination of different points of view in one image. Also, a number of artistic principles that arose and developed already in the early class society of Egypt, in turn, became canonical for subsequent periods. Compliance with the canons also determined the technical features of the work of Egyptian craftsmen, who early used a grid to accurately transfer the desired sample onto the wall. It is also known that in the Old Kingdom a standing human figure was divided into 6 cells, in the Middle and New Kingdom - into 8, in Sais time - into 26, and a certain number of cells were allocated to each part of the body. Also, canonical models existed for figures of animals, birds, etc. Despite the positive aspects, the canons fettered the development of art, and later played only an inhibitory conservative role, hindering the development of realistic trends.

The composition of Ancient Egyptian art

(4 thousand BC)

Monuments from the 5th millennium BC give a relatively complete picture of ancient Egyptian society. They talk about the primitive communal nature of society, based on primitive agriculture and cattle breeding. The fertility of the soil, formed from alluvial silt, provided food for a large number of people, despite the primitiveness of the tools. Agriculture based on irrigation began to appear in some communities. The labor of slaves was used, at first still few in number. The development of wealth inequality within the community led to rudimentary forms of state power. Constant internecine wars over lands, canals and slaves ended only in the middle of the 4th century BC. the formation of two large state associations - northern and southern. Around 3200BC the south defeated the north, which meant the formation of a unified Egyptian state.

The most ancient human habitations in the Nile Valley were pits and caves; sheds and tents were made from skins and wickerwork stretched on poles. Gradually, reed huts coated with clay appeared. Then they began to use raw bricks to build housing. A courtyard was built in front of the dwelling, surrounded by a fence and later a wall. The oldest type of housing - a pit - served as a model for burials, which had an oval shape and were lined with mats.

The lack of knowledge about the true connection of phenomena gave a fantastic character to ideas about the world; the rituals and beliefs that had already developed during this period determined the nature of the artistic products found in the most ancient tombs. The earliest of them are clay vessels painted with simple white patterns on a red clay background. Both form and execution gradually changed. Funeral and agricultural rites were depicted, with female figures playing the main role, which is associated with the leading role of women during the period of matriarchy. Rough schematic figurines are made. An example of paintings from that time is a painting from the tomb of a leader in Hierakonpolis. In such images, the artist did not draw objects from life, but conditionally reproduced the most important features. The central role of the Priestess or Goddess was expressed by larger sizes compared to other sizes.

Gradually the art changes and the images become clearer. Examples of the new stage are relief images of battles between communities, which led to the formation of large associations in the south and north. The leaders especially stand out in the relief: they are depicted in the form of a bull or lion, striking enemies. With the formation of a new social system, art becomes an ideological weapon. A striking example is the slab of Pharaoh Narmer (64 cm). The scenes are depicted with belts, which is how all wall paintings and reliefs will be decided in the future. In the subsequent art of slave-owning Egypt, deviations from the canons were most often applied to the depiction of people of the lower classes.

Art of the Old Kingdom

(3200 - 2400 BC)

Egypt of the Ancient Kingdom was the first slave-owning state, where, along with the exploitation of slaves, there was the exploitation of the free agricultural population. The pharaoh was at the head of the state, but there was a constant struggle between the nomes (regions), between the nobility and the pharaoh. Also, the period of the Old Kingdom is the period of the formation of all the main forms of Egyptian culture.

From early times, the leading position in Egyptian art was occupied by architecture, the main monumental structures: tombs, kings and nobility. Stone was used for their construction, while the dwellings"alive" were built of brick and wood. According to ancient beliefs, the deceased also needs a home and food, just like the living. From these beliefs arose the desire to preserve the body of the deceased, or at least his head; Complex mummification techniques were gradually developed. Also, statues of the dead were placed in the tomb to replace them in case of damage to the body. It was believed that the soul could enter it and revive it, thereby ensuring the posthumous life of a person. Tombs of the nobility -"mastaba" - consisted of an underground part where the coffin with the mummy was kept, and a massive above-ground building, which originally looked like a house with two false doors and a courtyard where sacrifices were made. The house was a brick-lined hill made of sand and broken stones. Then they began to add a brick chapel with an altar. Limestone was used for the tombs of the highest nobility. The construction of royal tombs, where all advanced technologies and inventions were used, was of great importance. Remnants of the idea that the spirit of the leader would protect his tribe were transferred to the cult of the pharaoh. Eyes were often depicted on the tops of pyramids.

An important stage in the development of royal tombs is the idea of ​​increasing buildings vertically - this idea first appeared during the construction of the tomb of Pharaoh Djoser of the III dynasty (~3000 BC), the so-called step pyramid. The name of its builder, Imhotep, survived until the end of Egyptian history as a sage, builder and astronomer, and later he was deified as the son of the god Ptah, and the Greeks compared him with their healing god Asclepius.

The tomb of Djoser opens the way to the creation of a perfect and complete type of pyramid. The first such pyramid was the tomb of the king I V Dynasty Snefru in Dashur (~2900 BC) - predecessor of the famous pyramids at Giza (29-28 centuries BC)

The most famous pyramids, located near Giza, were built for the IV dynasty pharaohs Khufu, whom the Greeks called Cheops; Khafre (Khephren) and Menkaure (Mykerinus). The most grandiose of the three is the pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), it is the largest stone structure in the world: 146.6 m in height, and the side length of the base is 233 m. The pyramid is made of precisely hewn limestone blocks weighing about 2.5 tons each (in total there are more than 2,300,000 pieces).

Each of the pyramids at Giza was surrounded by an architectural ensemble: sometimes there were small pyramids of queens nearby. Adjacent to the eastern side of the pyramid was the royal mortuary temple, connected by a covered stone passage to a monumental gate in the valley. These gates were built where the waters of the Nile floods reached, and because. To the east were green fields irrigated by the Nile, and to the west were lifeless sands, the gates stood as if on the verge of life and death.

The clearest picture of the mortuary temples at the pyramids at Giza is provided by the remains of the temple at the pyramid of Khafre (a rectangular building with a flat roof). Free-standing pillars are found in these temples for the first time. The buildings themselves are decorated with a combination of polished planes of various stones.

The tombs of the pharaohs of the 5th and 6th dynasties (2700-2400 BC) are of a different nature. The construction of colossal pyramids for the 4th dynasty greatly influenced the country's economy, around 2700 BC. there was a change of power. Now more attention began to be paid to the design of temples: the walls were covered with reliefs glorifying the pharaoh. It was at this time that palm columns and papyrus-shaped columns, characteristic of Egyptian architecture, appeared. A third type of Egyptian columns also appears: in the form of a bunch of lotus buds.

A new type of building appears - the so-called solar temples. An important element of which was a colossal obelisk, the top of which was covered with copper. Example: Solar Temple of Niuser-ra. It was also connected by a covered passage to a gate in the valley.

The sculpture of this time is represented by funeral statues in the niches of prayer houses or in closed spaces behind the prayer houses, executed in monotonous sitting or standing poses. The sacred purpose of sculpture, as a replacement for the physical body, determined the early appearance of the Egyptian sculptural portrait. Example: statue of the nobleman Ranofer from his tomb at Saqqara.

Nevertheless, some sculptors managed to create true masterpieces within the strictest canons:

Statue of the architect Hemiun

Statue of Prince Kaaper from the tomb at Saqqara

Pharaoh Menkaure, goddess Hathor and goddess Noma

Statue of Pharaoh Khafre from his tomb at Giza

Statue of the scribe Kaya

Sculptors gradually came to the need to modify the masks of the faces of the dead, especially when making heads or busts of the nobility, while the pharaohs were depicted in an exaggerated way: with super-powerful bodies and impassive gaze. The special embodiment of the pharaoh was the image of the sphinx - the body of a lion, and the head of a pharaoh. The most famous of all, the Great Sphinx is located at the monumental gate of the Pyramid of Khafre. Its base is made of natural limestone rock, which resembled the figure of a lying lion. The missing parts were added from limestone slabs.

Separately, it is necessary to consider the statues and figurines of slaves and servants, which were placed in tombs for"services" for the dead. These sculptures depicted people engaged in various jobs, moreover, without any canonical norms.

Girl preparing beer. Figurine from Saqqara, IV dynasty

A large place in the art of the Old Kingdom was occupied by reliefs and paintings covering the walls of tombs and temples. Two relief techniques were used: ordinary bas-relief (a type of relief where the image protrudes above the background plane by no more than half the volume) and incised, characteristic of Egyptian art, where the surface of the stone remains untouched, and the contours of the images are incised.

Architect Khesira. Relief from his tomb at Saqqara

Two wall painting techniques were also used: tempera on a dry surface and inserting colored pastes into recesses. The paints were mineral. The paintings and reliefs depicted not only scenes of the glorification of nobles and kings, they told about rural and handicraft work, fishing and hunting, but at the same time there were scenes of the beating of defaulters, immediately replaced by scenes of amusement for the nobility. It is in the images of ordinary people that defy canons that one can trace a change in worldview and in artistic creativity.

During the period of the Old Kingdom, artistic crafts received great importance and development: various vessels, furniture, jewelry; the connection with real life phenomena has been preserved.

Art of the Middle Kingdom

(21st century - early 19th century BC)

Frequent predatory wars and gigantic construction work led to the weakening of royal power. As a consequence, in 2400 BC. Egypt split into separate regions. In the 21st century B.C. A new unification of the country began, there was a struggle between the nomes, the southern nomes, led by the rulers of Thebes, emerged victorious. They formed the XI dynasty of pharaohs. But the struggle for power still continued among the subjects. Amenemhet I and his successors managed to maintain the unity of the country, and a new irrigation network was built (Fayum irrigation structures). The general economic recovery contributed to the development of art, and the construction of pyramids resumed. The predecessors of Anemkhet I resorted to a new design for their tombs - a combination of a pyramid with an ordinary rock tomb. The most significant of these is the tomb of Mentuhotep II and III in Deir el-Bahri.

The layout of the pyramids and temples of the XII dynasty completely coincides with the location of the tombs of the pharaohs of the V-VI dynasties, but due to changes in economic conditions, the construction of giant stone pyramids was impossible, so the size of the new structures is much smaller, and the building material was raw brick, which changed the method of masonry. The statues of the mortuary temples imitate the examples of the Old Kingdom, but there are some differences in local centers, particularly in middle Egypt, where the nomarchs still felt themselves rulers of their regions and imitated the customs of the royal palaces. This is how a new direction in the art of the Middle Kingdom is emerging, and artistic centers are being formed.During civil strife, there were periods when there was no power of the pharaoh. Faith in established foundations and in particular in the afterlife was shaken, and new scientific discoveries also contributed to this. This was reflected in literature (the story of Sinukhet) and art; there is a greater tendency towards realism.

A striking example of new trends are the reliefs and paintings on the walls of the rock tombs of the nomarchs. Particularly noteworthy are the reliefs from Meir depicting ordinary people.

The masters achieved particular success in depicting animals in the paintings of the tomb of the 16th nomarch Khnumhotep II in Beni-Hasan. Gradually, this experience was positively received in official art and was reflected in royal portraits.

In order to glorify themselves, the Theban pharaohs began extensive temple construction. They tried to install as many of their images as possible in the temples, inside and outside, and maximum similarity was necessary in order to consolidate the appearance of the pharaoh in the minds of the people.

Statue of Sanurset III, obsidian, 19th century. BC

Amenemhet statueIII, black basalt, 19th century BC

Amenemhet statueIII from Hawar, yellow limestone, 19th century BC

By the time of the reign of Senurset III, royal power had strengthened, and the nobility sought to occupy positions at court. Court workshops began to play a huge role. Local creativity began to follow their creativity, which was more canonical. There is an increase in construction, including pyramids. Example: the tomb of Amenemhet III in Havara, the mortuary temple became especially famous, especially in Greece.

The artistic craft developed widely due to the growth of urban life. As before, a lot of dishes were made from stone and faience, metal was processed, and bronze vessels appeared. A new technique has appeared in jewelry - granulation.

Among the discoveries of the art of the Middle Kingdom are the three-nave construction of the hall with a raised middle nave, pylons, and colossal statues outside the building. Particularly important was the growth of realistic trends, particularly in portrait statues.

Art of the first half of the New Kingdom. Art of the 18th Dynasty

(16-15 centuries BC)

In the 18th century BC. there was a weakening of central power. The long conquest of Egypt by nomads that followed was a period of economic and cultural decline. In the 16th century BC Thebes began the fight against the nomads and for the unification of the country. Pharaoh Ahmes I was the first king of the 18th dynasty. The victorious wars in Syria and Nubia contributed to an influx of funds and an increase in luxury and grandiose architecture. In the art of this period, the role of pomp and decorativeness, as well as the role of realistic aspirations, increases.

Thebes played a leading role in the art of the 18th dynasty, where the best works of art of this time were created: the Temple of TimeXVIII dynasty, temple of the god Amun in Thebes - Karnak and Luxor. In Luxor, a new type of temple of the New Kingdom acquired its completed form. The central colonnade was in the form of giant stone papyrus flowers.

Temple of Amun in Luxor

Temple of Amun at Karnak

A large place in the architecture of the 18th dynasty is occupied by the mortuary royal temples located in Thebes on the western bank of the Nile. The tombs were separated from the mortuary temples; they were carved into rock gorges, and the temples were erected below, on the plain. This idea belongs to the architect Iney. Temples are becoming more and more monumental. (The Temple of Amenhotep III from which only 2 giant statues of the pharaoh have survived:

The temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Del el-Bahri occupies a special place. The sculptures of external design are the least individual; only the most characteristic features of the queen’s face are conveyed. The statues located in the main chapel more closely reproduce her image.

From the middle of the 18th period, a new stage began: the severity of forms was replaced by decorativeness, sometimes turning into excessive elegance. There is a general interest in volume and the transfer of portrait features. The canonicity of royal statues did not allow all innovations to be fully reflected; this was more clearly manifested in the statues of private individuals.

The development of style in Theban wall painting followed similar paths. The most interesting are the tombs of the nobility, because... the royal ones contain narrowly religious subjects, with the exception of the temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahri. The main images are scenes from life and religious subjects; military themes and feast themes appear. Much attention is paid to movement in the composition. The figures of ordinary people contrast strangely with the figures of the nobility.

At the same time, Egyptian graphics appeared, drawings on papyri with texts"Books of the Dead". There is a flourishing of crafts and multi-colored inlays. The use of a vertical loom made it possible to produce fabrics with tapestry patterns. Floral motifs are especially popular.

The art of the time of Akhenaten and his successors. Amarna art

(late 15th - early 14th century BC)

The consequence of the wars of conquest of the kings of the 18th dynasty and the enrichment of the nobility and priesthood was an increase in internal confrontation, which resulted in open conflict at the beginning of the 14th century. BC under Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, who resolved this conflict with religious reform. He put forward a doctrine declaring the solar disk under the name of the god Aten to be the one true deity. The pharaoh left Thebes and built himself a capital in middle Egypt - Akhetaten, he himself took a new name - Akhenaten, which means"Spirit of Aten" He actively showed a break with the traditional past, which greatly affected art. The rejection of canonical forms changed not only the form of monuments, but also their content. They began to depict the king more often in everyday life, and they began to pay special attention to the surrounding environment. It was necessary to re-create artistic images and new types of sanctuaries. The first artistic experiments were very unusual, because... the masters had to retrain. However, the lack of canon had a positive effect.

The reign of the 19th Dynasty was a period of new political and economic growth. The influx of wealth and slaves increased due to external wars, but within there was still a struggle between the pharaoh, the priesthood and the nobility. Theban art preserves a reactionary desire to return to old traditions; the rulers tried to give greater splendor and splendor to the capital.

The main object of construction in Thebes was, of course, the temple of Amun at Karnak, of the grandest scale. The mortuary temple of Ramesses II, the so-called Ramesseum in Abu Simbel, was also distinguished by its monumentality, in the first courtyard of which there was a colossal statue of the king (~20m in height).

The sculpture returns to the canonical images of antiquity, and the external elegance increases more and more. However, secular images of the pharaoh and queen appear. The pharaoh is depicted without exaggeration as a muscle, as before, the image of a mighty ruler is conveyed by more realistic means - correct proportions, muscles peeking out from under his clothes.

Also, the legacy of the 18th dynasty is visible in the reliefs: interest in the landscape, in individual features, especially ethnic types. But all these new features did not violate the basic traditional conventions.

Among the Theban paintings, the paintings of the tombs of masters who lived in an isolated settlement in the mountains of the Theban necropolis and represented a closed group, the transfer of position in which went from father to son, stand out. It was also a religious society, because participated in religious ceremonies, incl. and the cult of death. They were called"those who listen to the call."

The further development of art at the end of the New Kingdom was heavily affected by long wars and a weakening economy, as well as civil strife. The XX dynasty of pharaohs briefly managed to unite the country, but with the loss of previous foreign possessions. A little later, the country split into a northern one under the rule of the nomarchs of Tanis and a southern one with the capital in Thebes. Large construction ceased after the death of the second pharaoh of the XX dynasty, Ramesses III. During his time, the temple of Khonsu at Karnak and a mortuary temple with a palace at Medinet Habu were built. The tombs gradually decreased in size, the paintings became standard, the position of artists declined, which significantly affected the quality of the work.

Late Art

(11th century - 332 BC)

The wars waged by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom delayed development. During the first century there were constant uprisings of the population and struggles among slave owners. Since the 2nd century. BC the state collapsed. In 671 BC. Egypt was conquered by the Assyrians, the fight was led by the ruler of the western delta, who acted in alliance with the Greek cities, Asia Minor and Lydia. After the expulsion of the Assyrians, Egypt was united under the XXVI Dynasty with its capital at Sais.

During periods of long disintegration, no major construction was carried out; it was resumed only during short periods of unification. At such a time, under the Libyan ruler Sheshanq and the Ethiopian pharaoh Taharqa, additions to Karnak were made - the construction of another courtyard with porticoes and a giant pylon.

During the 11th - 8th centuries. BC Thebes and Tanis remained the artistic center. Theban art continued the traditions of the New Kingdom, and artistic craft flourished in Tanis. The sculpture of this time is an outwardly elegant monument. Bronze figurines became widespread instead of expensive stone.

During the reign of the Ethiopian dynasty, a revival began in the artistic world. Example: a sculptural portrait of Pharaoh Taharqa (Hermitage) and Ethiopian princesses (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts).

Statue of Montuemhet, mayor of Thebes

The desire to idealize its history only intensified in subsequent years, especially when Egypt united under the rule of the conqueror of Assyria, Pharaoh Psamtik I. Trade routes improved and expanded, and construction began again, mainly concentrated in Sais. The builders, like everyone else, imitated ancient art.Archaization affected all areas: literature, religion, politics.

Despite the dire consequences of the Persian conquest (525 BC) and the short period of struggle for independence, Egyptian artists created beautiful monuments. Example, head of a priest from Memphis.

After the secondary conquest by the Persians and then the Greek-Macedonians (332 BC), Egypt retained political independence under the control of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty, and found the strength to embrace art. Temples in Effu, Espe, Dendera, on the island. Philae. However, these architectural monuments should already be considered in the context of Hellenism.

The significance of Egyptian culture is great: it is rich in literature (fairy tales, stories, love lyrics arose), Egyptian science gave us the calendar and zodiac signs, the basics of geometry and the first discoveries in the field of medicine, geography and history. This knowledge enjoyed high authority in the ancient world, and later in the East. The first Greek art was formed under the influence of the art of Ancient Egypt and influenced the minds of young Greek masters.

Despite the fact that the canons determined the definite and constrained poses of the portraits, the impassiveness of facial expressions, the masters were able to bring true authenticity of life into these motionless statues. Family portraits are often found in tombs. The simplicity of generalized forms and the noble perfection of execution are inherent in the paired statues of Rahotep and his wife Nofret (first half of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum). They sit on hard cubic thrones, separated from each other not only by distance, but also by the direction of their gaze, directed straight ahead. According to tradition, the male statue is painted red-brown, the female - yellow, hair - black, clothes - white. The motionless, laconic images are humane, full of charm, purity and enlightened clarity. Portraits of pharaohs standing inside tombs and temples are striking in their vitality and at the same time they convey a sense of the mass of the stone block from which the statues are carved. Their poses are canonical. The left leg is put forward, as if they are slowly taking their first step into eternity. Seated statues are built according to the principles of symmetry and balance, often they are full of internal tension, like the imperious pharaoh Khafre (first half of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), frozen in proud grandeur, guarded by a falcon - Horus, stretched over him their hard wings.

An important role was played by reliefs and paintings made on the walls of tombs and temples and also associated with the funeral cult. Their purpose was determined by the desire to glorify the power of the buried ruler and ensure his prosperity in the afterlife. Reliefs and paintings were placed in such a way as to establish the plane of the wall and emphasize the laconicism and severity of the architectural image as a whole. This explains the lack of multi-faceted in-depth construction, the unfolding of the narrative with friezes on the wall, and the specific depiction of figures. Pharaoh and the gods were depicted above other people. Conventionality in colors and in the construction of reliefs was associated with a long artistic selection of images, established canons; Egyptian masters chose the most acute and characteristic points of view on the subject, combining them into one. The reliefs themselves are usually flat, they hardly protrude above the surface of the wall. The ancient Egyptians used two relief techniques - bas-relief and incised relief with a deep contour, bringing them closer to paintings. The silhouette of the figures is always clear and graphic, the person is depicted in such a way that the width of the shoulders, shown in front, and the muscular slenderness of the legs, turned in profile, are visible. Thus, in a wooden relief depicting the architect Khesir (beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), the entire appearance is powerful shoulders deployed according to the traditional pattern to their full width, narrow hips shown in profile, a thick mane hair, a bold and proud face - enhances the feeling of the extraordinary inner strength of this person, the beauty and rhythm of his elastic movement. Subtle modeling of barely perceptible volumes gives the relief a special completeness and softens the rigidity of the silhouette.

The principle of frieze development of the plot is typical for the reliefs of the Old Kingdom. He helps the artist recreate scene by scene, various everyday episodes unfolding over time. The repetition of identical figures walking in a line in the relief from the mastaba of Ahuthotep, located one under the other, like line after line, makes one feel the slow smoothness and significance of the solemn procession, as if directed into eternity, the rhythmic beauty of the ritual dance.

Ancient Egypt sculpture- one of the most original and strictly canonically developed areas of art of Ancient Egypt. Sculpture was created and developed to represent the ancient Egyptian gods, pharaohs, kings and queens in physical form. There were also many images of ka in the graves of ordinary Egyptians, mostly made of wood, some of which have survived. Statues of gods and pharaohs were placed on public display, usually in open spaces and outside temples. The Great Sphinx in Giza was never replicated in life-size anywhere else, but alleys made from smaller copies of the Sphinx and other animals became an indispensable attribute of many temple complexes. The most sacred image of God was located in the temple, in the altar, usually in a boat or barque, usually made of precious metals, although not a single such image has survived. A huge number of carved figurines have been preserved - from figures of gods to toys and dishes. Such figurines were made not only from wood, but also from alabaster, a more expensive material. Wooden images of slaves, animals and property were placed in tombs to accompany the dead in the afterlife.

Statues, as a rule, retain the original shape of the block of stone or piece of wood from which it was carved. In traditional statues of seated scribes, similarities to the shape of a pyramid (cubic statue) are also often found.

There was a very strict canon for creating ancient Egyptian sculpture: the color of a man’s body had to be darker than the color of a woman’s body, the hands of a seated person had to be exclusively on his knees. There were certain rules for depicting Egyptian gods: for example, the god Horus should be depicted with the head of a falcon, the god of the dead Anubis with the head of a jackal. All sculptures were created according to this canon and adherence was so strict that during the almost three-thousand-year history of Ancient Egypt it did not undergo changes.

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  The sculpture of the Early Dynastic period comes mainly from three major centers where temples were located - Ona, Abydos and Koptos. The statues served as objects of worship, rituals and had a dedicatory purpose. A large group of monuments was associated with the “heb-sed” ritual - a ritual of renewing the physical power of the pharaoh. This type includes the types of sitting and walking figures of the king, executed in round sculpture and relief, as well as the image of his ritual running. The list of Kheb-sed monuments includes a statue of Pharaoh Khasekhem, represented seated on a throne in ritual attire. This sculpture indicates an improvement in technical techniques: the figure has correct proportions and is volumetrically modeled. The main features of the style have already been identified here - monumental form, frontal composition. The pose of the statue is motionless, fitting into the rectangular block of the throne; straight lines predominate in the outlines of the figure. Khasekhem's face is portrait-like, although his features are largely idealized. The placement of the eyes in the orbit with a convex eyeball is noteworthy. A similar technique of execution extended to the entire group of monuments of that time, being a characteristic stylistic feature of portraits of the Early Kingdom. By the same period, the canonicity of the pre-dynastic period, standing at full height, was established and gave way in the plastic arts of the Early Kingdom to the correct rendering of the proportions of the human body.

  Old Kingdom Sculpture

  Middle Kingdom sculpture

  Significant changes in sculpture occur precisely in the Middle Kingdom, which is largely explained by the presence and creative competition of many local schools that gained independence during the period of collapse. Since the XIIth Dynasty, ritual statues have become more widely used (and, accordingly, produced in large quantities): they are now installed not only in tombs, but also in temples. Among them, images associated with the rite of heb-sed (ritual revival of the pharaoh's life force) still dominate. The first stage of the ritual was associated with the symbolic murder of the elderly ruler and was performed over his statue, which in composition resembled canonical images and sculptures of sarcophagi. This type includes the gray-haired statue of Mentuhotep-Nebkhepetra, depicting the pharaoh in a pointedly frozen pose with his arms crossed on his chest. The style is distinguished by a large degree of conventionality and generality, generally typical for sculptural monuments of the early era. Subsequently, the sculpture comes to a more subtle modeling of faces and greater plastic dismemberment: first of all, this is manifested in female portraits and images of private individuals.

  Over time, the iconography of the kings also changes. By the time of the 12th Dynasty, the idea of ​​the divine power of the pharaoh gives way in images to persistent attempts to convey human individuality. The heyday of sculpture with official themes occurred during the reign of Senwosret III, who was depicted at all ages - from childhood to adulthood. The best of these images are considered to be the obsidian head of Senusret III and sculptural portraits of his son Amenemhet III. The type of cubic statue - an image of a figure enclosed in a monolithic stone block - can be considered an original find by masters of local schools.

  The art of the Middle Kingdom is the era of the heyday of the plastic arts of small forms, mostly still associated with the funeral cult and its rituals (sailing on a boat, bringing sacrificial gifts, etc.). The figurines were carved from wood, covered with primer and painted. Entire multi-figure compositions were often created in round sculpture (similar to how it was customary in the reliefs of the Old Kingdom).

  New Kingdom sculpture

  In the art of the New Kingdom, a sculptural group portrait appears, especially images of a married couple.

  The art of relief acquires new qualities. This artistic field is noticeably influenced by certain genres of literature that became widespread during the New Kingdom: hymns, war chronicles, love lyrics. Often texts in these genres are combined with relief compositions in temples and tombs. In the reliefs of Theban temples there is an increase in decorativeness, free variation of bas-relief and high-relief techniques in combination with colorful paintings. This is the portrait of Amenhotep III from the tomb of Khaemkhet, which combines different heights of relief and in this respect is an innovative work. The reliefs are still arranged in registers, allowing the creation of narrative cycles of enormous spatial extent.

  Amarna period

  The art of the Amarna period is distinguished by its remarkable originality, which stems primarily from the nature of the new worldview. The most unusual fact is the rejection of a strictly idealized, sacred understanding of the image of the pharaoh. The new style was even reflected in the colossi of Amenhotep IV, installed in the Temple of Aten at Karnak. These statues contain not only the typical canonical techniques of monumental art, but also a new understanding of portraiture, which now required a reliable representation of the pharaoh’s appearance, down to the characteristic features of the body structure. The criterion of verisimilitude was a kind of protest against the previous official art, therefore the word “maat” - truth - is filled with a special meaning. Images of Akhenaten are an interesting example of a combination of authenticity with the requirement for extreme generalization and normativity characteristic of Egyptian art. The shape of the pharaoh's head, the unusually elongated oval of the face, thin hands and a narrow chin - all these features were carefully preserved and reflected in the new tradition, but at the same time all the artistic techniques were fixed on special samples - sculptural models.

  The characteristic techniques of depicting the pharaoh were extended to members of his family. A frank innovation was the depiction of figures entirely in profile, which was previously not allowed by the Egyptian canon. What was also new was the fact that ethnic features were preserved in the portrait: such is the head of the pharaoh’s mother, Queen Tia, inlaid with gold and glassy paste. The intimate lyrical principle is manifested in the Amarna reliefs, full of natural plasticity and not containing canonical frontal images.

  The works of the workshop's sculptors are rightly considered the culmination of the development of fine art. These include the well-known polychrome head of Queen Nefertiti in a blue tiara. Along with the completed works, many plaster masks that served as models were also found in the excavations of sculpture workshops.

  The flourishing of the art of Ancient Egypt began in 3 thousand BC. e., after the unification of the country. A despot pharaoh became the head of the state, and slave labor was widely used. The strengthening of the unlimited power of the ruler and his deification became increasingly widespread. The pharaohs, who combined their powers with the rank of high priest, declared themselves the sons of the sun - Ra. The deceased pharaoh was identified with Osiris, whose veneration was based on the deification of ancient ideas about the annually dying and resurrecting forces of nature. In connection with the deification of the pharaoh, who was considered the patron spirit of the country, the nature of the rituals became more complex.

  The ancient funeral cult acquired further development. The Egyptians believed that a person is endowed with several souls. They considered one of the souls to be a double (“ka”), the connection with which meant further life. The statues of the dying person seemed to replace the body, subject to decay, so that the soul could return to be reunited with its double. Therefore, the sculpture of Ancient Egypt, from its very inception associated with the funeral cult, gravitated towards accurate portraiture.
  The deceased, placed in the tomb, seemed to move to a new home, continuing to need food and shelter.

  Architecture
  From 3 thousand to i. e. In connection with the cult of the pharaoh, the construction of the first giant tombs began. They consisted of an underground room where the sarcophagus and all the items that were considered necessary for the deceased were placed, and a mastaba - an above-ground hill lined with brick or limestone slabs. The growing grandeur of the upward-facing tombs of the pharaohs of the Third Dynasty reflected an unshakable desire to exalt the life of the ruler over the centuries, to contrast the fragility and impermanence of earthly life with the idea of ​​​​the eternity of the afterlife.
  The architecture of tombs and temples occupied a leading position in Egyptian art, and other types of art, complementing it, formed a single and inextricable complex.
  The search for the most perfect and grandiose form of the tomb is visible in the tomb-pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser in Saqqara (28th century BC), which reached a height of more than 60 m and consisted of seven powerful steps made of stone blocks decreasing upward. The architect Imhotep, the creator of this structure, erected a pyramid in the middle of a complex ensemble of courtyards and temples. He distinguished it from the surrounding buildings, giving it an upward movement. However, here the clarity and simplicity, that unrestrained smooth rise upward, which were expressed in the pyramids of the pharaohs of the subsequent, IV dynasty, had not yet been achieved.
  The pyramids of the pharaohs Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Khefre) and Menkaure (Mikerin, 27th century BC), rising in Giza, were called one of the “seven wonders of the world”.

  Pyramids at Giza. Egypt

  In the minds of people of subsequent generations, they were identified with all the art of Egypt, with the nature and appearance of this country. Erected from light stone in the middle of the desert, they amaze with their size, severity and severity. Their image embodied the greatness and daring courage of man’s plan to oppose the centuries with the work of his hands and mind. The huge mass of pyramids, built from powerful stone blocks, is subject to an extremely simple and clear idea. Each of the pyramids is a square in plan, and its sides are isosceles triangles. In the dazzling sun, the falling sharp and clear shadows further emphasize the rational clarity of these structures, the simplicity of which is generated not by the poverty of imagination, but by the enormous mastery of generalization, crystallized over the centuries.
  The most grandiose of the three is the Pyramid of Cheops, built under the direction of the architect Hemiun. Its height is about 147 m, the length of the side of the base is 233 m. How much effort, given the primitive technology of that time, was spent on this structure is evidenced by the description of Herodotus, which says that thousands of people spent ten years building a road for transporting stone slabs, and then twenty-five years - a pyramid. It is made up of two million three hundred thousand blocks weighing each from 2.5 to 30 tons. The entire surface of the Cheops pyramid was lined with smooth limestone slabs, giving its appearance a special crystal clarity. Inside there was only a small chamber, covered with granite, which housed a sarcophagus with a mummy, corridors leading to it, and narrow channels for ventilation. Thus, the pyramid was a gigantic stone mass, which had a particularly strong impact with its shape and size from a long distance.
  The proud appearance of perfect, clear-cut architectural monuments embodied the idea of ​​immortality, alienation from everything unstable and fickle, the power and despotism of the unlimited power of the pharaohs.

  The pyramids at Giza formed part of a grand ensemble. It included mortuary temples, strict in their layout, clear and calm in their rhythms. The giant figure of the sphinx, standing on a straight axis leading to the Pyramid of Khafre, completes the ensemble. She combines the stern face of a pharaoh with the body of a lion. Carved from a single rock mass, the sphinx with a wide-open gaze directed into space, not seeing anything earthly, seemed to affirm the idea of ​​​​eternal peace of tombs opposing centuries. An extraordinary sense of stone, its texture and decorative features was also manifested in the decoration of powerful pillars of mortuary temples, in the ability to combine the colorful effects of the surface of diorite and granite, polished to a shine.

  Sculpture
  The integral purity of the temple and tombs were the statues of pharaohs, nobles, and court scribes. The cult purpose of the statues determined their implementation within the strictest canons. People were depicted in monotonous, calm poses full of motionless grandeur and stability, as if frozen for centuries. In most cases, this is either a standing figure with the left leg extended forward, or a frontally seated figure with hands pressed to the torso. And at the same time, the sculptures of the Ancient Kingdom are distinguished by sharp realism, sometimes endowed with enormous internal energy. According to the ideas of the ancient Egyptians, ritual portrait statues were the personification of a double of the deceased. Therefore, the masters sought to convey maximum similarity in them, and at the same time express their ideas about the ideal image. Vitality and observation are inherent in the individualized faces of those portrayed; bright coloring and inlaid eyes with rock crystal and ebony enlivened these faces even more. The statue of the scribe Kaya sitting with his legs between his legs (mid-3rd millennium BC, Paris, Louvre), made of limestone, with the attentive gaze of large, shiny eyes, as if hungry for an order, and tightly compressed lips, amazes with its sharply expressed portraiture.

  

  Statue of the royal scribe Kaya

  The wooden statue of the nobleman Kaaner (mid-3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), leaning on a staff and majestically carrying his corpulent body, is distinguished by such truthfulness and individualization that the workers who found it during excavations called the statue “rural headman."

  Statue of the nobleman Kaaper

  Despite the fact that the canons determined the definite and constrained poses of the portraits, the impassiveness of facial expressions, the masters were able to bring true authenticity of life into these motionless statues. Family portraits are often found in tombs. The simplicity of generalized forms and the noble perfection of execution are inherent in the paired statues of Rahotep and his wife Nofret (first half of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum). They sit on hard cubic thrones, separated from each other not only by distance, but also by the direction of their gaze, directed straight ahead. According to tradition, the male statue is painted red-brown, the female - yellow, hair - black, clothes - white. The motionless, laconic images are humane, full of charm, purity and enlightened clarity. Portraits of pharaohs standing inside tombs and temples are striking in their vitality and at the same time they convey a sense of the mass of the stone block from which the statues are carved. Their poses are canonical. The left leg is put forward, as if they are slowly taking their first step into eternity. Seated statues are built according to the principles of symmetry and balance, often they are full of internal tension, like the imperious pharaoh Khafre (first half of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), frozen in proud grandeur, guarded by a falcon - Horus, stretched over him their hard wings.

  An important role was played by reliefs and paintings made on the walls of tombs and temples and also associated with the funeral cult. Their purpose was determined by the desire to glorify the power of the buried ruler and ensure his prosperity in the afterlife. Reliefs and paintings were placed in such a way as to establish the plane of the wall and emphasize the laconicism and severity of the architectural image as a whole. This explains the lack of multi-faceted in-depth construction, the unfolding of the narrative with friezes on the wall, and the specific depiction of figures. Pharaoh and the gods were depicted above other people. Conventionality in colors and in the construction of reliefs was associated with a long artistic selection of images, established canons; Egyptian masters chose the most acute and characteristic points of view on the subject, combining them into one. The reliefs themselves are usually flat, they hardly protrude above the surface of the wall. The ancient Egyptians used two relief techniques - bas-relief and incised relief with a deep contour, bringing them closer to paintings. The silhouette of the figures is always clear and graphic, the person is depicted in such a way that the width of the shoulders, shown in front, and the muscular slenderness of the legs, turned in profile, are visible. Thus, in a wooden relief depicting the architect Khesir (beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), the entire appearance is powerful shoulders deployed according to the traditional pattern to their full width, narrow hips shown in profile, a thick mane hair, a bold and proud face - enhances the feeling of the extraordinary inner strength of this person, the beauty and rhythm of his elastic movement. Subtle modeling of barely perceptible volumes gives the relief a special completeness and softens the rigidity of the silhouette.

  The principle of frieze development of the plot is typical for the reliefs of the Old Kingdom. He helps the artist recreate scene by scene, various everyday episodes unfolding over time. The repetition of identical figures walking in a line in the relief from the mastaba of Ahuthotep, located one under the other, like line after line, makes one feel the slow smoothness and significance of the solemn procession, as if directed into eternity, the rhythmic beauty of the ritual dance.

  Painting and art craft
  The same purity of lines, the same restraint and calm clarity of rhythms and color scheme as in the reliefs can be traced in the paintings of the Old Kingdom. For example, in the paintings from the tomb of the architect Nefermaat in Medum (27th century BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), rich and pure in color combinations. Wall paintings usually used golden, orange-red, green, blue and turquoise paints applied to a dry surface. Often special recesses were filled with colored pastes, similar to inlay. Generalized contour lines emphasized the flatness of the wall and the monumental integrity of the ensemble.

  

  Painting of the tomb at Medum

  At this time, artistic crafts and small painted plastic arts were widely developed. Jewelry made from precious stones - malachite, turquoise and carnelian, wooden furniture decorated with gold, combined bright colors with harmony and strict simplicity of form, characteristic of all products of the Ancient Kingdom. The head of a falcon (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) is magnificent in its generality and plasticity, crowned with a regal crown, made of gold and black obsidian, the polished pieces of which give the feeling of living and bright bird eyes. The art of the Ancient Kingdom in each of its manifestations achieved high results. All the features of the figurative worldview characteristic of ancient Egyptian culture were laid down at this time.

  The Art of the Ancient East: a textbook Petrakova Anna Evgenievna

  Topic 5 Sculpture, reliefs and paintings of the Old Kingdom (XXVIII–XXIII centuries BC), 3–6 dynasties

  The chronological framework of the period, a brief description of the political and economic situation - the first long-term and stable unification of Egypt with the capital in Memphis, centralization, development of the bureaucratic apparatus, the “golden age” of Egyptian art, the final formation of the canon in the fine arts. Architecture is the basis for all types of fine arts. The main types of round sculpture in the era of the Old Kingdom, its location and purpose, materials, the nature of the master’s work, the position of the sculptor in society. Statues of pharaohs and their features (postures, transmission of movement, age, problem of similarity): sculpture of Khafre with Horus, sculptural group of Mikerin with Hathor and the goddess of the 7th nome, sculptural group of Merira-ankhnes with Pepi II on his knees. Statues of nobles (types, poses, occupations, transmission of movement, age, problem of similarity, difference in clothing and coloring of male and female statues): sculpture of the architect Hemiun, sculptures of Rahotep and Nofret, sculptural group of Seneb with his wife and children, two statues of the scribe Kaya, wooden statue of the nobleman Kaaper, copper statues of Pepi I and II. General and special in the statues of pharaohs and nobles. "Reserve heads." Images of animals in sculpture of the Old Kingdom. Small figurines of workers and servants (types, coloring features, problem of transferring movement). The main types of relief (bas-relief, in-depth relief) and painting (paintings and inlays of colored pastes) in the era of the Old Kingdom, colors and paints for paintings, themes, formal features, location in the mortuary complex. Reliefs and paintings from funerary complexes of the 5th–6th dynasties. The problem of the canon in reliefs and paintings (canon in composition, depiction of figures, transmission of action and its sequence).

  Literature on the topic:

  History of art of foreign countries. Primitive society, Ancient East, Antiquity. Ed. M.V. Dobroklonsky, A.P. Chubovoy. M., 1980. pp. 41–44

  V.K. Afanasyeva, V. Lukonin, N. Pomerantseva. Art of the Ancient East. M., 1976. (series: “Small History of Art” under the general editorship of I.S. Katsnelson). pp. 231–252

  V. Afanasyeva, I. Dyakonov, V. Lukonin, M. Mathieu. Art of the Ancient East. M., 1968. Series: “Monuments of World Art.” pp. 11–15

  M.E. Mathieu. Art of Ancient Egypt. M, 1970. Series: “Essays on the history and theory of fine arts.” pp. 39–66

  A.L. Punin. Art of Ancient Egypt. Early Kingdom. Ancient kingdom. St. Petersburg, 2008. Series: “New History of Art.” pp. 351–394

  M.E. Mathieu. Art of Ancient Egypt. L, 2001. pp. 113–179

  A.Siliotti. Egypt. Pyramids. (Atlas of Wonders of the World). M., 2001.

  Illustrations for the topic:

  Triad of Mikerin - sculpture of Pharaoh Mikerin with Hathor and the goddess-personification of the 7th Nome (Cairo, Egyptian Museum, inv. JE 46499). Characteristic is the man's left leg pushed forward and the feet of the female characters brought together.

  Sculptures of the nobleman Rahotep and his wife Nofret (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) - characterized by the dark color of the male body (tan, active life position - warrior, official) and the light color of the female (life in the house, protecting the skin from the scorching sun, in contrast to the dark color skin in sculptures of maids).

  Statue of the noble scribe Kaya (Paris, Louvre, inv. E 3023) - a traditional pose for a scribe, detailed body elements and a very expressive face. In this way, the statue of Kaya, in accordance with his life and profession, differs from his static and inexpressive sculpture from the burial

  Wooden statue of the nobleman Kaper (Cairo, Egyptian Museum, inv. CG 34). During the excavations, he was called by the workers “Sheikh el-Balad” (in Russian literature - “village elder”). In the statues of nobles, the transfer of the body is not as idealized as in the statues of the pharaohs. In addition, wood, as a softer material, allows for more detailed work than stone.

  Statue of Merira-ankhnes with Pepi II on his knees (New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, inv. 39119), each of the characters is designed for a frontal point of view, the sculpture does not have one common point of view

  A fragment of a relief from an Old Kingdom tomb - clarity of the image against the background, repetition of poses in several figures, a combination of different points of view when depicting different parts of the body of one figure.

  Geese from the tomb at Medum, fragment of a painting from the mastaba of the architect Nefermaat and his wife Itet (Cairo, Egyptian Museum, inv. CG 1742). The predominance of the linear-graphic principle in paintings.

  Security questions for the topic:

  What is the chronological framework of the Old Kingdom period?

  What are the features of the political and economic structure of Egypt during the Old Kingdom?

  Where were most of the surviving Old Kingdom statues found?

  What materials were statues made from during the Old Kingdom?

  How were statues painted during the Old Kingdom?

  What are the basic poses for Old Kingdom pharaonic statues?

  What is the measure of resemblance to life in the sculptures of the pharaohs?

  What is the difference in the images of men and women in sculptures of nobles from the Old Kingdom era?

  How were children depicted in sculptures of the Old Kingdom?

  How did the sculptor work with the stone block?

  To what extent is the round sculpture “tied” to architecture?

  What is the difference between statues of nobles/pharaohs and statues of workers and servants?

  What is a men's suit like in the era of the Old Kingdom?

  What is a woman's costume like in the era of the Old Kingdom?

  What are "backup heads"?

  What materials were used to produce red, yellow, black, white?

  What materials were used to produce green and blue colors?

  What types of terrain do you know?

  What types of terrain were used in Egypt?

  What was depicted in the reliefs and paintings on the walls of the funerary complexes of the 5th and 6th dynasties?

  What are the ways to convey space in reliefs and paintings of the Old Kingdom era?

  What are the features of the depiction of figures in reliefs and paintings of the Old Kingdom era?

  Cards: Map of Egypt from the Old Kingdom - be able to show Memphis and Medum

  Terms

  Bas-relief

  Deep relief

  Canon

  Personalities

  Mikerin

  Rahotep

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  Topic 7 Architecture and fine arts of the New Kingdom under the pharaohs of the 18th dynasty (before Amenhotep IV), XVI–XV centuries. BC e Second transition period, economic difficulties, conquest of the northern part of Egypt by the Hyksos. The new unification of Egypt led by the pharaohs from Thebes and

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  Topic 10 Architecture and fine arts of the second half of the New Kingdom, late XIV – mid-XI centuries. BC e. (19th and 20th dynasties) General characteristics of the situation in the country during the reign of the last representatives of the 18th dynasty. Rise to power of the 19th dynasty and renewal

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