Existing comment:
Egyptian Sculpture in Stone:
Egyptian statues and reliefs met two fundamental religious needs -- glorifying the gods and housing the soul after death. The Egyptians believe sculptures placed in temples could make the daily offerings demanded by the gods, even if the king and priests failed to do so. Likewise, they believed a statue of the deceased placed in the tomb could house the dead person's spirit if the mummified body deteriorated or was damaged.
The Egyptians used local stones for their sculptures, choosing the hardest, such as granite, for the most important works. They painted nearly all their sculptures, where in relief on in the round, to make them more realistic.
Sculpture in the round was compact; it had few projections to sustain damage. The figures face front in static poses, men with the left foot forward, women with feed together, in relief sculpture, head and legs are in profile, but torso face front.
Egyptian artists observed these conventions for more than three thousand years. Distinct styles did develop, making it possible to date most Egyptian sculpture to a particular period, to dynasties of rulers within that period, and sometimes even to the reign of a particular ruler.
The revitalized art of sculpture flourished from the Late Period into the Greco-Roman period that began with Alexander the Great's conquest of Egypt in 332 BC. |