Egyptian Art History

It's really hard to quantify the incredible influence ancient Egyptians have had on Western art. Their
heavy reliance on symbolism was a precursor to the symbolism found in Renaissance paintings and practically
all art since then. There are architectural methods of creating bricks and preparing building materials inform the
process for creating architectural monuments that still endure today.

Egyptian hieroglyphs were one of the world's earliest scripts. While our current alphabet does not
necessarily make use of pictures like the Egyptian hieroglyphs did, our society can certainly relate to the desire
to communicate with images. While the cult of celebrity worship is often considered a contemporary
phenomenon, one can find surprising similarities in the ancient Egyptians’ worship of Pharaohs and animal
gods.

The period of ancient Egyptian art lasted from about 3000 BC to 30 BC and is generally separated into
three kingdoms: the Old Kingdom the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. Egyptians created the first ever
portraits of individuals. The sizes of different figures were highly symbolic in ancient Egyptian art. Pharaohs, for
example were often the largest figures in any painting symbolizing their dominance and power the smallest
figures were usually peons the little people.

Egyptians use of color was also highly suggestive. Men who worked outside were often red whereas
women and indoor workers were painted yellow. Egyptian painting made use of the same mixed perspective
found in Stone Age art. This meant that different body parts and objects in the same scene were viewed from
different angles to make each feature distinctly recognizable. For example feet were always drawn in a profile
or side view because they would be less recognizable if you looked at them on this conveyed more information
about subjects then if painters had only used one perspective in their work in paintings of people eyes and
shoulders were painted in frontal perspective while faces waists and limbs were shown in profile view

The style of ancient Egyptian painting is fairly easy to identify even if you don't know much about art.
One thing that makes it so recognizable is its flatness. There is no horizon or vanishing point and the forms in
the Egyptian painting are completely flat. instead of a two-point perspective parallel lines called registers were
used to order the subjects in a piece. Registers separate scenes and provide a sense of depth. For example
when two figures overlap, the one on top is closer in the one underneath this further away. The absence of a
register indicates chaos and occurs in battle and hunting scenes

Not all of the arts of ancient Egypt were two-dimensional. Sculpture and pottery played important roles
in the artistic development of the region as well. Egyptians are known for building in colossal scale one form of
sculpture that ancient Egyptians invented was the obelisk- a tall rectangular monument with a pyramid like
point. Egyptian obelisks were tributes to the sun-god Ra and are thought to symbolize petrified sunrays.
Ancient Romans loved the obelisk design and created many obelisks of their own. The tallest remaining
Egyptian obelisk is the obelisk of Hatshepsut - a female ruler who ruled for almost twenty years during the 15th
century BC. The obelisk of Hatshepsut is 97 feet tall, inscribed from top to bottom with hieroglyphs and like all
Egyptian obelisks was carved from a single piece of stone. Today, monumental obelisk can be found in many
capital cities of the world. The United States obelisk is the Washington Monument.

Another Egyptian innovation was the stone column. One of the most significant staples of ancient
architecture in which we still often use today. Greek and Roman columns were inspired by these ancient
counterparts. Egyptian columns were even topped with floral decorations called capitals - like the Corinthian
columns of later times the terraced Temple of Hatshepsut features long rows of columns called colonnades
which would become an architecture staple in the Classical period. Perhaps the best-known piece of Egyptian
sculpture is the Great Sphinx of Giza that massive human head on a lion's body, the giant face with its missing
nose the body with its long stone lines. Smaller sculptures carried on the themes of colossal tributes
representing gods and figures who also took animal forms

In addition to three-dimensional sculptures, Egyptians carved sunken relief sculptures into flat surfaces
these sunk relief sculptures often follow the same aesthetic as Egyptian painting, flat images featuring multiple
perspectives and size according to status and hierarchy. The Amarna period from 1085 to 1055 BC was a high
point in ancient Egyptian art because of its increased attention to detail and full use of artistic materials. In
painting, more figures were included in each scene with some figures overlapping to create a sense of
movement and urgency. The human figures in art from this period were more stylized as well. Details were
more pronounced than an earlier Egyptian art. Particularly pharaoh Akhenaton are portrayed as softer and
more feminine. You would think that with all the arts that ancient Egyptians were creating they would have
been one of the first civilizations with art museums. This was definitely not the case most of ancient Egypt's
sculptures, pottery, and symbolic paintings were hidden away from view. Egyptian art was not meant for the
living, but intended as sacred tomb decoration for pharaohs and other higher-ups as a way to honor them.
While you and I can easily find amazingly preserved examples of ancient Egyptian art and many arts and
historical museums, the ancient Egyptians basically had to be dead not to mention fairly important within
society to get close to the Egyptian art we prize today. the art that wealthy living Egyptians did have access to
included amulets, jewelry, cosmetic containers, pottery, and beautiful furniture.

The impact that ancient Egyptian art has had on civilization since the 3rd century AD is truly profound.
Egyptian sculpture, architectural innovation, and symbolism would help shape the arts of ancient Rome in
Greece and is still evident in contemporary arts.

Greek Art

No discussion of art history would be complete without mention of the art of ancient Greece. Classical Greek
art and architecture has left its mark throughout the ages and across the world. Greek art is usually
categorized under three headings: the archaic period, the Classical period, and the Hellenistic period. Some
experts also add another heading the geometric period which preceded archaic style. To understand how
classical Greek style evolved and what made Greek art so impressive; it's helpful to know what was happening
in Greece culturally and politically. The Golden Age of art in Greece was the same era when the Greek
philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle began teaching, and also when Greek dramatists and playwrights
like Sophocles and Aristophanes first showcased their theater.

The law of Draco published in 621 BC was the first step towards the world's first democratic
government in Athens. The defeat of the Persians in 479 BC left a long-standing mark on the Greek society
and civilization. With Athens gaining domination of Greece in every way, it's not surprising that Athenian
influence is plain to see an art. Around 450 BC Athenian general Pericles began an advertising campaign of
sorts to win the favor of the populace. He commissioned several temples and buildings in Athens all on a
magnificent scale, hoping that this would drum up tourism to the city and make him in the Athenian way of life
more popular than ever. As part of Pericles his campaign, he commissioned the Parthenon which housed the
legendary Athena Parthenos - a statue said to be made of gold and ivory. Other prime examples of classical
Greek art and sculpture were created in the Parthenon as well. The birth of Athena and a battle between
Poseidon and Athena were both prominent sculptures here, which were probably painted with bright colors
although no trace of the paint remains today and the ruins of the Parthenon. In the early geometric period,
ceramic vessels were primarily used as funerary items. Repetitive geometric shapes and sic figures were
common features on these vessels. Later pottery became more utilitarian and decorative.

During the Archaic period vase painting was an important art form, which involves scratching incisions
to reveal black silhouette designs and backgrounds of orange clay. Details were then painted in red or white.
This early Greek potter's technique was known as the black figure technique as the goal was to scratch out a
clay background to reveal black characters. Around 530 BC a new technique called red figure painting
replaced chisels with paint brushes. Instead of scratching the pottery to reveal figures and a background, a
black background was painted on with brushes. This may sound like a simple process, but ancient Greeks
actually used a three-step complex firing process that took into account oxygen levels and chemical reactions
to seal the correct color scheme.

During the Classical period, the creation and decoration of Greek pottery a significant Greek art form
dramatically. The scenes show on Greek pottery is like a window to the past. They include pictures of Greek
mythology, everyday life, and 5th century comedians who wore grotesque masks and even padding to
exaggerate body parts. These artists took pride in their work as some ancient Greek pottery is signed. The
Classical period was also the time when some of the most impressive bronze sculptures were made. These
early sculptors could not quite master the technique of making their pieces appear natural. However, over time
they developed a keen eye for a proportion.

During the Classical period artists broke away from the tradition of sculpting glorified renditions of ideal
men and women and began sculpting more realistically this paved the road for even more realistic sculptures
to come and Roman art, and it is strikingly evident when you look at their beautiful recreations of the human
form. Expressive faces adorned these sculptures for the first time in the Classical period. The Aphrodite of
Knidos was one of the most innovative and influential sculptures and popularized the contrapposto pose. The
contrapposto stands puts most of the figures weight on one leg turning the torso slightly making subjects seem
both dynamic and relaxed. Michelangelo's famous sculpture David would incorporate the contrapposto stands
years later during the Renaissance.

Greek artists of the Classical period innovated architectural structure as well. Corinthian columns,
more decorative and Doric and ionic columns, were popularized in architecture and spread natural motifs
around Greece. freezes carved and relief were also incorporated into temple design. Frieze sculptures featured
mythological and historical scenes, and sometimes animals. The Parthenon frieze includes illustrations of
God's, musicians, soldiers, weaver's, elders, heroes, and other scenes. The sculpture of the Parthenon heavily
influenced art in the 5th century BC and continues to influence art today.

During the last period of ancient Greek art, the Hellenistic age, unflattering features were incorporated
into sculpture. Though they retained their idealized proportions and symmetry, Hellenistic art was increasingly
used for propaganda purposes. It was at this time when two of the most famous Greek sculptures in history
came to be the Venus de Milo and winged victory of Samothrace. The Venus de Milo, now missing arms,
exemplifies the Greek idealized style, and the winged victory of Samothrace shows the goddess Nike in a
dynamic pose about to take off in flight. Although decades of battles eventually took their toll on the city and
Athens lost its Sheen as a political capital, its artistic supremacy remained unshaken until 4th century BC.
Greek artists develop new techniques and styles despite the constant threat of war. This was the time when
Greek artists travelled long distances in the name of work and art as a career gained recognition. As a
consequence formal education and art also came to be recognized and several arts schools were established
including the “Sisian” school in Peloponnesus

During the 4th century BC Athens was well on its way to decline but the influence of Greek art had not
yet begun to wane. Classical Greek art proved its endurance beyond doubt influencing neighboring cultures
substantially enough to bring about subtle changes in their indigenous styles and forms. King Philip a Macedon
successor Alexander the Great began his reign in the year 359. Alexander's patronage for the arts spread the
classical style far and wide. Greek art set the foundation for many modern art practices - from our
representation of the human figure to the techniques used in pottery and painting more importantly its societal
emphasis on the arts remains influential.