Historiography of Ancient
Egyptian Art
Introduction:
Egyptian art has not always been an obvious concept. The look of Egyptian antiquities is noticeably out of step with Classical antiquities and thus with the art of the Renaissance inspired by them. A cursory glance at 3,000 years’ worth of examples of The Pharaonic era might cause one to draw the conclusion that no artistic progress had been made in all that time. The Greeks, in contrast, learned from the Egyptians and progressed to classical perfection in just a few hundred years. In fact, there is evidence that Plato, one of Greece’s greatest thinkers and commentators on the classical Greek opinion of“perfection,” knew and admired Egyptian art (Davis 1979).
We must do a good and careful examination to find out what distinguishes ancient Egyptian art from its dun ya from other arts European Renaissance and later scholars and artists were influenced by the classical antiquities that were visible, and were recovered from as early as the sixteenth century in Rome (Christian (2010), 265). The same kind of access to Egyptian artifacts would be necessary before the history of Egyptian art could begin to be written. In fact, among those antiquities found in Rome were both Egyptian antiquities—many of which had been brought to the center of the Roman Empire by the emperors—and Egyptian objects created in Rome. In the late fifteenth century, the Carmelite scholar Michele Fabrizio Ferrarini made accurate copies of the hieroglyphs inscribed on monuments visible in Rome (Curran 2007). The most obvious of such antiquities were the obelisks which attracted the attention of the seventeenth-century Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher (Kircher 1650). He was mainly interested in the texts on the obelisks, and understood them to be Egyptian.
The artist and architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi displayed a keen interest in Egyptian forms in his designs that may be considered the beginning of the Egyptian revival (Pevsner 1968 and Piranesi 1769).
The artist and architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi displayed a keen interest in Egyptian forms in his designs that may be considered the beginning of the Egyptian revival (Pevsner 1968 and Piranesi 1769).
The recognition of these antiquities as objects of art and their analysis as such began with Johann Joachim Winckelmann. He is the father of the art historical discipline focusing on works produced by then lost cultures massively influential work , Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums.
His first published in 1764 (Winckelmann 1764 and 2006), deals with Egyptian antiquities as art. It is clear from the beginning of his chapter on pre-Greek art that he was neither sympathetic toward the Egyptians nor their art. He did understand that art produced in Egypt had its own context, but he did not have adequate knowledge of that context because he never saw enough examples (Grimm and Schoske 2005) to be able to make a reasoned assessment and, since the Egyptian language had not yet been deciphered, he could not begin to understand the context.
The first Publication of Egypt:
The first great publication of Egyptian antiquities was the Description of Egyptology (Commission the sciences and, arts Egyptology 1809–1828), composed by the scholars and artists who accompanied Napoleon By sending a military mission to Egypt between the years (1798 - 1801) Images of Egyptian antiquities were carefully drafted, published, and disseminated. This was followed a few decades later by the publications of the joint French–Tuscan
expedition (1828–1829) led by Jean-François Champollion (1844–1889) and Ippolito Rosellini (1832–1844), and the Prussian expedition (1842–1845) led by Richard Lepsius (Lepsius 1849–1856). Now for the first time, large corpora of reproductions of Egyptian antiquities were available to be studied, while, at the same time, actual objects were flooding into Europe largely as a result of these expeditions. In addition, as the Egyptian language had now been deciphered (Champollion 1822), texts were being translated, allowing the context in which the art was created to be understood.
Knowledge of the ancient Egyptian language
The second half of the nineteenth century was devoted to increasing the knowledge of the Egyptian language and relating the information found in texts to the antiquities that were being discovered, published, and exhibited. Knowledge of the language is particularly crucial for Egyptian art because a large proportion of objects, including buildings, are inscribed. Publications on ancient art, like those of classical archaeologists Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez (Perrot and Chipiez 1882 and 1883), examined ancient Egyptian art through their appreciation and admiration of the classical world. Perrot and Chipiez did have the capacity to examine Egyptian art on its own, and thus noticed its artistic development in a section entitled “Change observable in Egyptian art.
There have been many changes in ancient Egyptian art, and this thing cannot be denied, but its history and developments must be studied. They affirm explicitly that many examples must be examined before art history can be attempted.
At its publication, Egyptology Georg Ebers stated that Perrot and Chipiez treated Egyptian art as it had never been treated (Perrot and Chipiez (1883), v). Publications like these promoted the process of data gathering that was necessary to discern patterns of style and technique.
Achilles Constant T.É. Prisse d’Avennes began his study of Egyptian art in the first half of the nineteenth century but avoided the Hellenocentric approach found in the work of others. His focus was firmly on Egypt. He was a talented draftsman and artist who spent many years in Egypt recording antiquities.
There have been many changes in ancient Egyptian art, and this thing cannot be denied, but its history and developments must be studied. They affirm explicitly that many examples must be examined before art history can be attempted.
At its publication, Egyptology Georg Ebers stated that Perrot and Chipiez treated Egyptian art as it had never been treated (Perrot and Chipiez (1883), v). Publications like these promoted the process of data gathering that was necessary to discern patterns of style and technique.
Achilles Constant T.É. Prisse d’Avennes began his study of Egyptian art in the first half of the nineteenth century but avoided the Hellenocentric approach found in the work of others. His focus was firmly on Egypt. He was a talented draftsman and artist who spent many years in Egypt recording antiquities.
His Monuments Egyptians( Reliefs, Paintings , Inscriptions, etc) . (Prisse d’Avennes 1847) consciously continues the work of Champollion (Champollion 1844–1889). Avens shed light on the ancient Egyptian architecture and to obtain abundant and good information in architecture through his studies in Thebes Thirty years later, Prisse d’Avennes published arguably the first true history of Egyptian art (Prisse d’Avennes 1878–1879). The text begins with a relatively short historical introduction followed by in depth artistic discussions on topics like the canon and proportion, accompanied by two volumes of excellent quality illustrations of art and architecture Similar work of focusing on Egypt was being conducted by the German scholar Adolf Erman . His Ägypten und ägyptisches Leben im Altertum (Erman 1885 and 1894) devotes a chapter to representational art, but the observations still want for a larger number of examples from which to draw conclusions.
This work was augmented with photographs and published in a second edition by Hermann Ranke in 1923 (Erman 1923). There is a noticeable change in the method displayed in the work of Friedrich Wilhelm von Bissing. His publication on sculpture (Bissing 1914), and his survey of Egyptian art history (Bissing 1934–1938) display a highly systematic approach. The illustrations are good quality photographs that are described in detail with references, and analyzed with several indexes. Ludwig Borchardt, a student of Erman, was a major contributor to the field of Egyptian architecture in the first third of the twentieth century. He studied all types of Egyptian architecture; royal, religious, mortuary, and domestic. His interest in the domestic architecture of Amarna led him to excavate the sculptor’s studio, where the models of the royal family, including the famous head of Queen Nefertiti, were uncovered. They now form the core of the Amarna collection of the Neues Museum in Berlin. He published the first volume of ( Beiträge zur ägyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumskunde (Borchardt 1926) thus establishing a major and continuing series for the evaluation of Egyptian architecture.
The study of Egyptian architecture:
The ancient Egyptian architecture is considered to have a special luster, as it combined the different arts in one thing, such as architecture, engraving, painting, statues, and historical texts.. Borchardt’s work was continued by Herbert Ricke in what was to become the Schweizerisches Institut für Ägyptische Bauforschung und Altertumskunde in Cairo. He continued to edit and publish in the Beiträge zur ägyptischen Bauforschung undo Altertumskunde (Ricke1944).
The archaeologist Gustave Jéquier focused on the decorations found in Egyptian buildings, providing beautiful examples in his publications, some in color (Jéquier1911 and 1920–1924). George Andrew Reisner, who had been actively excavating on the Giza plateau, not only published the magnificent sculpture excavated by his team, but carefully described the context within the buildings where they were found (Reisner1931). The Egyptian architect and Egyptology, Alexander Badawy, began his career in Egypt where he published Architectural drawing among the ancient Egyptians (Badawy1948).
He moved to the United States in 1957, where he completed the publication of his three-volume history of Egyptian architecture (Badawy 1954–1968). Dieter Arnold established himself as a scholar of architecture with the publication of Wandrelief und Raumfunktion in ägyptischen Tempeln des neuen Reich's (Arnold 1962). His work within the field of architecture has been wide ranging, from general books on Egyptian architecture (Arnold 1994 and 2009) to the particular study of architectural materials (Arnold 1991), and site specific structures (Arnold 1987).
Architectural historians supplement their work on the physical structures with examinations of the significance and meaning of these structures within the context of their creation (e.g., Jánosi 2005).
The archaeologist Gustave Jéquier focused on the decorations found in Egyptian buildings, providing beautiful examples in his publications, some in color (Jéquier1911 and 1920–1924). George Andrew Reisner, who had been actively excavating on the Giza plateau, not only published the magnificent sculpture excavated by his team, but carefully described the context within the buildings where they were found (Reisner1931). The Egyptian architect and Egyptology, Alexander Badawy, began his career in Egypt where he published Architectural drawing among the ancient Egyptians (Badawy1948).
He moved to the United States in 1957, where he completed the publication of his three-volume history of Egyptian architecture (Badawy 1954–1968). Dieter Arnold established himself as a scholar of architecture with the publication of Wandrelief und Raumfunktion in ägyptischen Tempeln des neuen Reich's (Arnold 1962). His work within the field of architecture has been wide ranging, from general books on Egyptian architecture (Arnold 1994 and 2009) to the particular study of architectural materials (Arnold 1991), and site specific structures (Arnold 1987).
Architectural historians supplement their work on the physical structures with examinations of the significance and meaning of these structures within the context of their creation (e.g., Jánosi 2005).
The study of Egyptian monumental:
The relationship between ancient writings and architecture
There must be a balance in the accuracy of the arts between ancient Egyptian architecture and the accompanying Pharaonic writings in order for it to be an integrated relationship between ancient Egyptian architecture and the art of writing and there is an integral relationship between the two parts so that one cannot be dispensed with at the expense of the other Lepsius is the father of epigraphy, according to Ricardo Caminos in his brief history of the subject (Caminos 1976).
The subsequent leader in this method of investigation is the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute Epigraph Survey (Bell 1987). Its series, Oriental Institute Publications (University of Chicago, Oriental Institute 1924–), with sub series of 28 Diane Bergman monuments such as Medinet Habu, documents the results of the work of the teams of epigraphs.
The Deutsches Archäologisches Institut is equally committed to the publication of epigraph material in its series Archaeologist Veröffentlichungen (DeutschesArchäologisches Institut 1970–).
The subsequent leader in this method of investigation is the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute Epigraph Survey (Bell 1987). Its series, Oriental Institute Publications (University of Chicago, Oriental Institute 1924–), with sub series of 28 Diane Bergman monuments such as Medinet Habu, documents the results of the work of the teams of epigraphs.
The Deutsches Archäologisches Institut is equally committed to the publication of epigraph material in its series Archaeologist Veröffentlichungen (DeutschesArchäologisches Institut 1970–).
At the time of this writing, the site of Elephantine is documented in thirty-four volumes. Norman de Garis Davies was an individual artist and epigrapher who worked for every major expedition to Egypt during the first half of the twentieth century. His copies of many tombs increase in value because they document monuments that are now damaged or lost (Wilkinson and Hill 1983). Perhaps the greatest contribution of Egyptian Egyptology in the twentieth century has been the work of the Centre de documentation et d’études sur l’ancienne Égypte which is devoted to the recording of inscriptional evidence on monuments and rock inscriptions (Mokhtar 1972).
The finding, gathering, and collecting of Egyptian antiquities has been steadily increasing since the major expeditions of the early nineteenth century. Buildings were cleared, objects were “excavated” and gathered in a number of private collections and museums, mainly in Europe. The largest body of material by far, however, was amassed within the country of origin, but few saw it because for westerners, Egypt was still accessible only to the wealthy.
In Egypt, the objects and monuments were being cared for as never before with the founding of the Antiquities Service in 1858. Its first two directors, August Marietta and Gas-ton Maspero, were energetic both in their excavations and in setting up the means and mechanisms to preserve and interpret the antiquities. As early as 1835, the Egyptian government set up a museum or, more accurately, a repository for antiquities in the Ezbekiah Gardens in Cairo.
Subsequent museums were set up in Bulaq and Giza, but the major depository of Egyptian antiquities in the twentieth century was the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, opened in 1902. This museum’s first major publication (Grébaut 1890–1915) appeared in three volumes between 1890 and 1915 under the direction of Maspero. This is a publication of good quality photographs of superb objects with detailed descriptions, and remains a valuable tool for art historical interpretation.
Subsequent museums were set up in Bulaq and Giza, but the major depository of Egyptian antiquities in the twentieth century was the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, opened in 1902. This museum’s first major publication (Grébaut 1890–1915) appeared in three volumes between 1890 and 1915 under the direction of Maspero. This is a publication of good quality photographs of superb objects with detailed descriptions, and remains a valuable tool for art historical interpretation.
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