Akhenaten and the art of The Amarna Period Amenhotep, (Akhenaten) who came to the throne of Egypt about 1352 BCE, was one of the most unconventional rulers of Ancient Egypt.
Akhenaten
and the art of
The Amarna Period
Amenhotep, (Akhenaten) who came to the
throne of Egypt about 1352 BCE, was one
of the most unconventional rulers of
Ancient Egypt.
Amenhotep IV• Initiated radical religious change.
• Founded a new religiondemanding belief in a single god:The life-giving sun disk Aten.
• Changed his name to Akhenaten.“Blessed spirit of the Aten”
• Initiated a significant change inartistic styles and subjects.
• Moved capital of Egypt fromThebes to Amarna
Old versus New Religious Ideas
• Akhenaten's worship of Aten as the sole god of creation was
revolutionary.
• The stela of Wesi shows the worship of the god of the afterlife,
Osiris, one of the many gods to whom Egyptians had prayed
for centuries.
•
• The relief from the Great Palace at Amarna depicts
Akhenaten's worship of Aten, the light within the sun's disk.
See how some elements remained the same, some changed
dramatically.
Painted papyrus
reproduction of the
relief from the
great palace at
Amarna.
Representation of the god
The Worshipers
Offerings and Instruments
Offering table
Family Members
Purpose of the relief
• This funerary monument was probably placed
either in Wesi’s tomb or in a temple. Most likely,
he would have commissioned only one such
image, specifically to provide for their afterlife.
• This carving represents an actual
ceremony, a daily ritual carried out by the
royal family. The carving ornamented a
processional ramp in the Great Palace at
Amarna; many such images were carved
for Amarna's buildings.
Maat : Divine Truth• With his new religion,
Ahkenaten emphasized thephilosophical principle ofdivine truth.
• His concern for truth wasreflected in artisticexpression of the period.
• This shift in attitudechanged many long standingconventions of Egyptian art.
• In royal portraits, the kingencouraged artists to includehis unusual physicalcharacteristics.
Changes in artistic styles under Amenhotep
III, and Amenhotep IV, (aka Akhenaten)
• Egyptian art was generally very formal, presenting an idealizedversion of the subject matter.
• Egyptian art stuck closely to strict guidelines and depicted people informal poses.
• Images were idealized, but retained some actual facialcharacteristics.
• Towards the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout thereign of his son Akhenaten, a new more flowing art form evolved.
• Through his new religion, Akhentaten emphasized maat, or divinetruth.
• While this new style is oftendescribed as more'naturalistic' it remainshighly stylized in itsportrayal of the humanfigure.
• Statues depicting Akhenatengo well beyond a natural orrealistic representation of themale form.
• Akhenaten was depictedwith an elongated skull, widehips, spindly legs and apendulous breasts and arounded belly.
• Some scholars believe hewas born with Marfansyndrome and really lookedlike that.
• Akhenaten was notthe only person to bedepicted with apeculiar bonestructure.
• His wife, Nefertitiand his daughters,the princesses werealso portrayed morerealistically.
In his quest for truth, Akhenaten urged his artists to
portray the royal family in informal situations.
• Akhenaten and His Family, painted limestone 1352-1336 BCE
• Sunken relief outlines of figures have been carved into the surfaceof the stone, instead of being formed by cutting away the background
• Royal couple is receiving the blessings of Aten.
• This scene of two parents lovingly engaged with their children wasnever seen in Egypt before.
Akhenaten and Nefertiti Models
1353 - 1336 BCE Limestone
Among the most intriguing objects from Amarna are the models, practice pieces,
and unfinished statues uncovered in what must have been sculptors' workshops.
These royal images may have been used as models by artists carving the numerous
images of Akhenaten and Nefertiti found throughout the city.
Queen Tiy1352 BCE
• Miniature portrait head, only3.75” high.
• Made of ebony, glass, silver gold,lapis lazuli and clay.
• Mother of Akhenaten.
• She fully supported her son in hisrevolutionary vision.
• This naturalistic portrait revealsher bone structure and carefullydefined features.
• Royal torso
1353 - 1336 BCE
Quartzite
• Carved by a master sculptor
with the skill to translate a
sheer, close-fitting garment
into stone.
• This sculpture illustrates the
Amarna artistic ideal, with
high waist, full belly, and
voluptuous thighs.
• The figure probably
represented Nefertiti or
perhaps one of her daughters.
Later Amarna Period
After the death of the court sculptor
named Bik a new sculptor, Thutmose,
returned to a more traditional style.
Akhenaton
Queen Nefertiti1352-1356 BCE
• Painted limestone
– 20” high
• One of the most well knownpieces of art in history.
• Beautifully refined features.
• Excellent use of color.
• Carved by Thutmose,probably to serve as a modelof the queen for other piecesof art.
Glass Fish Shaped Bottle, c. 1352-1336glass blowing also flourished during the Amarna Period
Glass CupNew Kingdom
1370-1335 BCE
Return to Tradition
The Royal Tombs of Tutankhamen
and Nefertari
The Valley of the Queens
Queen Nefertari while giving offerings
to goddess Hathou
Queen Nefertari in front of God Thut,
god of wisdom.
A very life like picture of the god Anubis;
god of mummification.
Nefertari making an offering to Isis.
Egyptian Book of the Dead
• By the New Kingdom period, Egyptians came to believethat only a person free from sin could enjoy the gift of theafter-life.
• Believed that the dead had to undergo a kind of “LastJudgment”consisting of two tests.
• Osiris, god of the dead and the jackal headed, Anubis, godof funerals, presided over the tests.
• First the deceased was questioned by the gods about theirbehavior in life.
• Then their hearts, believed to be the seat of their soulswere weighed on a scale against an ostrich feather, thesymbol of Maat, the goddess of truth.
• In order to help their deceased friends and
relatives pass these difficult tests, many Egyptians
commissioned papyrus scrolls containing magical
spells or texts.
• These scrolls were placed inside the mummy
wrappings of the deceased.
• Early collectors of Egyptian artifacts called these
beautiful illustrated scrolls, Books of the Dead.
Judgement before Osiris, Book of the Deadc.1285 BCE
Left: Anubis leads the deceased to the scale where is heart will be weighed against the
feather. Center: Horus presents the deceased to Osiris Top: Deceased in the afterlife,
kneeling before the nine gods of Helioplis, sacred city of the sun god, Ra.
Section from a Book of the Dead
ca. 1070-945 B.C. Painted and inscribed papyrus
Opening Wah’s Coffin
Unwrapping of Wah’s Mummy
Coming
Attractions….
King Tut:
The Boy King
The Tutankhamun Collection
Basic Funeral Equipment
Gold Death Mask of
Tutankhamun
• This mask of solid gold,beaten and burnished, wasplaced over the head andshoulders ofTutankhamun's mummy,outside the linen bandagesin which the whole bodywas wrapped. It weighsabout twenty - fourpounds.
An Outer (second) Coffin of Wood Overlaid
with Gold and Semiprecious Stones
Canopic Chest and Jars
Miniature Canopic coffins
Innermost
Golden Coffin
• Like the internal organs of the king,
his mummy was also within several
series of containers.
• Three mummi-form coffins, one
inside the other, and weighing over
three thousand pounds, were inside a
carved quartzite sarcophagus, whose
cracked lid was made of granite.
• The four goddesses, Isis, Selket,
Neith and Nepthys each carved on a
corner, spread protective wings
around the sides and utter words on
behalf of the deceased king.
Funerary Bed
Goddesses Selket and Isis
guarding the tomb
Tut’s
Golden Throne
Gold pendant with Various Deities
Pectoral of Kheper Scarab
Squatting Figure of a King
Necklace of
the Sun on
the Eastern
Horizon
Pendant Depicting the Solar Beetle
Flanked by Baboons
Life size head of
Tutankhamun on a Lotus
Remember Ahkenaten was King Tut’s Father.
Painted Wooden Torso of the King
Life-Size Wooden
Statue of the King
Gold Gilded Wooden Chariot
• Works referenced:
• Janson, History of Art, Abrams 2001
• Marilyn Stockstad’s Art History: Second Edition (Volumes one andtwo)
• Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Timeline of Art History.” Availableonline at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm
• Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa. 1992
• “The Web Gallery of Art.” Available online at http://www.wga.hu
• http://www.artchive.com/artchive