ESSAY #2b
ESSAY TITLE: Completeness and Truth
QUESTION: How is it possible that what the Egyptians considered "completeness", could be misinterpreted as crude, naive or unrealistic and how does it affect the “truth” contained in their art?
SUMMARY: Upon
answering this question, I experienced a mild upset in organization. To begin
with, I had so many thoughts and notes flying about. I was forced to sit down,
sort my thoughts, agree or disagree on the topic and thoroughly explain my
opinion.
REASON: What I
believe the reason for asking this question is to understand why people make
art. The reason may be different than my own and I needed to understand that
there is more than one point of view on this subject.
DIRECTION: Throughout
the course of answering this question, I buried myself into the course text and
took advantage of web tools. I generally kept the same opinion I had upon
first reading the question but my knowledge on the subject grew tremendously.
IMPRESSIONS: While most
people know of The Great Sphinx, I don’t think many know who it was built for
and why it is of half man and half lion. I now have more insight as to what the
Egyptians were thinking when this was erected. Not only that but, as silly as
it seems, I know more than just the names of people like Nefertiti and
Akhenaten. I now know who they were.
PART II
PART II
ANSWER:
When
considering the definition of “completeness” and “truth”, there is one explanation: these words are open to interpretation. What the Egyptians
considered to be complete may be something that you or I do not. When looking
at ancient Egyptian art over a 2,500
year span, I noticed a distinct
distortion of limbs and features of figures, which upon first glace, I
said to myself “did these people have no concept of proportion and reality?”
Delving even further, I saw examples of perfectly realistic carvings and
statues, which made me wonder. Which pieces of Egyptian art display what they actually
considered accurate? It Turns out, in their eyes, both were.
The first
clue that really got me thinking was one of the first pieces I had even read on
the subject. “The Greek Historian Herodotus thought the Egyptians were the most
religious people he had ever encountered” (Art History, Fourth Edition Vol. I,
Marilyn Stokstad, Pg. 50) What does this have to do with their art? Upon
further investigation I learned that the ancient Egyptians led a very fruitful
life centered around their religion. These people believed in keeping a certain
balance in harmony with the gods. Death was feared only by ones who did not
abide by this balance and their art became an extension of this way of
thinking. Egyptian artistic style was passed down from generation to generation with little room for change. This was specifically to keep the order and
therefor, not upset the balance, harmony and way of life.
“The Narmer
Palette” is an prime example of exactly where the
Egyptians placed their priorities. Dating from the Early Dynastic period, the
palette is a representation of the unification of upper and lower Egypt under
King Narmer’s rule. Narmer is displayed as a larger than life man surrounded by
smaller enemies of lower Egypt. The focal point of this piece is the depiction
of his defeat over a man of comparable size, his hand holding the head of his
enemy and ready to strike with the other. The Egyptians used exaggeration and
distortion as a way to highlight the most important or impressive parts of
their history. Narmer, being a king, was at the head of the table, so to speak.
He was now to be remembered in this life as a brave successor. In the
afterlife, his “ka”, or soul, would continue being the great man he was
depicted as.
("The Narmer Palette" Green schist, Hierakonpolis. Early Dynastic Period, c. 2950 BCE.)
Another
example, The Great Sphinx of the Funerary Complex of Khafre “combines his head
with the long body of a crouching lion seemingly merging notions of human
intelligence with animal strength” (Art History, Fourth Edition Vol. I, Marilyn
Stokstad, Pg. 58). This is said to be one of the most impressive of all
Egyptian art. It’s sheer size alone suggests a central figure in history who is
to be be remembered as someone of great power, intelligence and regalia. This
statue of Egyptians’ “truth”, though possibly interpreted as naive, was just a
representation of what they saw in
Khafre: a noble and strong king.
("The Great Sphinx" Sandstone, Giza. Old Kingdom c. 2520-2494 BCE.)
Aside
from Egyptian Kings, pieces of art have also shown persons of lower status. “Seated
Scribe” (Art History, Fourth Edition Vol. I, Marilyn Stokstad, Pg. 60) of the Fifth Dynasty shows a man in a much more lifelike
condition. His line of work has made him overweight. His skin droops
from lack of exercise. His eyes are focused as they may have been while he was
alive . Even lower in class, statues had been carved of servants. “The Butcher”
(Art History, Fourth Edition Vol. I, Marilyn Stokstad, Pg. 60) displays a man hunched over, in good physical
condition, performing his daily duty
which was, in this case, the slaughter of an ox. These types of art were
erected much smaller than those depicting a king or someone of higher class. They
were solely made to be buried with those of more importance so that as they
descent into the afterlife, the person would have everything that they needed
when they got there. This provided the buried with “completeness”.
("Seated Scribe")
As
years went on, artist style began to budge just a little bit. While past
representations portrayed important figures in symbolic or physically fantastic
form, by the time of the Twelfth Dynasty arrived, focus was placed more on exaggerating facial features as opposed to symbolic ones seen in pieces like
The Great Sphinx. In the “Colossal
Figure of Akhenaten” (Art History, Fourth Edition Vol. I, Marilyn
Stokstad, Pg. 70), facial features stand out. His lips are
almost bulbous. His eyes are slanted and quite large. The bones of his torso
jut out. His large facial features and expression suggest a man of great
confidence. While the visuals of Egyptian art have changed, the message is just
the same: Remember this person of importance, let him continue to be complete
in his afterlife and most importantly, keep the balance.
Source: http://www.heptune.com/art.html
("Colossal Figure of Akhenaten" Sandstone with traces of polychromy, Eighteenth Dynasty)
Ironically
enough, Akhenaten became someone the Egyptians after him wanted to forget. His
new religion was one they wanted to erase and therefor, all traces of Akhenaten
were attempted to be destroyed. Just
like packing away a box of memories of your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, the people
who came after Akhenaten packed him away by turning his art and buildings to
rubble. The backlash against his religion led to the destruction of his
palaces and temples. Work began on dismantling Akhenaten very soon after
abandonment and it’s stone re-used by later Pharaohs.( http://www.akhet.co.uk/akhstory.htm) Now that this had occurred, the Egyptians new “truth” was
that Akhenaten never even existed. He had been erased. This brought them back
to their much needed balance.
These displays of art are only pieces of Egyptian “completeness”.
Their strong focus on religion maintained their ongoing point of view of what
they saw as “truth”. People who may not know the history behind some of these
pieces of artwork may take a first look and perhaps giggle at the way Nermer’s
chin juts out too far or how Akhenaten’s right arm looks more like a piece of
armor than a limb. To them, this is unrealistic, even crude. To the ancient
Egyptians, their works put the best of people on display for their gods and for
Egyptian people to follow.
