For
almost three thousand years –from the beginning of the
Pharaonic dinasties(2850 b.C.) to the year of the Roman Conquest
(30 b.C.)- one of the greatest civilization of History has
developed along the river Nile: the Egyptian one.
The most
important artistic expression of this culture is related to the
pyramids, the tombs of the kings,the paintings,sculptures and
objects found in them.Some of the pyramids
are huge, with the body of a Pharaon inside(the Cheope pyramid
-146 metres high,253 metres wide- is the tallest of the group in
Giza ).The architects used to plan systems in order to avoid the
desecration of the sepulchre and the stealing of the objects.A
lot of people and money
were needed to build and to furnish a pyramid but the Pharaon’s
will was just to alter the landscape with its impressive size:
he meant to leave an endless signal of his presence.The Egyptian
culture had a proper cult of the other world: to enter the
dead’s world one had to keep his own features.Actually they
mummified the dead
and gave them clothes,
jewels, pastimes, and some of the furnishings they had when
alive. Large quantities of food have been found in the tombs,for
the long no return journey as well as paintings and bas-reliefs
about the activities one had in his own life or on the king’s
behalf:scenes of daily routine, artisan or agricultural works,hunting
or breeding animals, agricultural implements and arms.Those
representations are precious sources of knowledge: they tell us
about the Egyptian processing of metals and stones and their
agricultural theories.Their Art is very colourful: big public
buildings and the Pharaon’s palace had bricks covered with
painted plaster and coloured
flags often waved against the blue sky.The paintings on the
walls of tombs and buildings were full of colours as well as the
bas reliefs and the sculptures.Art was practised by skilled
artisans following precise rules, for example the ones
determining proportions and measures of the human figure.
Egyptian Art has been defined monotonous and repetitive because
during the three thousand years of their culture it didn’t
sensibly change its architecture,
sculpture and painting.Nevertheless, when it dealt with ordinary
people(rather than the Pharaon and the nobles) and their daily
life, the style became more natural, sometimes remarkably lively.
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