Immortal: Egyptian Sculpture

Egyptian sculpture is one of the most admired work of art. The Egyptian statues in general is a masterpiece by itself. They have captivated artists, art lovers and antique collectors for thousands of years. The materials the ancient Egyptians used to sculpt are basically stone, clay, metal, wood and minerals. Soft stones were used and these stones were shaped using chisels, bow drills, saws, blades and points. They also used hard stones placed in a mud brick wall lit with fire and doused with water.

After a piece was done they cover it with gesso which is a white paste substance that gives the sculpture a polished look. After the gesso application the Egyptians will paint the piece, basically using the colors red, yellow, brown and blue. They do not paint the entire piece but only certain parts like the lips, eyes, dress, and headgear. They created their sculpture in statuary form and relief form using mass material such as wood and stone. If you are very observant of ancient Egyptian art you will notice that in the relief form the subject's body is frontal view but the face is in profile. The face shows one full eye and both the feet are same angle with the face with one foot in front of the other. Egyptian sculpture are usually commissioned by the Pharaohs and the pieces are sculpted images or illustrations of gods and godesses, the pharaoh, the priests and the royal court and the ordinary Egyptian citizen. The statues representing the Egyptian royals and nobliity are often lifesize or massively huge and statues representing the ordinary citizen are often small and usually depict them as workers or slaves.


In general I am not a huge follower of Egyptian sculpture but do not get me wrong, I still marvel the Egyptian culture and I will never tire seeing ancient Egyptian artifacts of antiquity, they fascinate me but I do not have as much excitement when I compare them to Roman classical sculpture. The one thing though that I find breathtaking as far as Egyptian sculptures are concerned are the massive scupltures that we all know and these are the ones that we see at the Valley of the Kings and of course the ancient Sphinx. Egyptian sculpture - timeless and powerful.

Photo Credit: Sculpture at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor
Photographer: Flavio Jota de Paula
Photo Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fjota/

Photo Credit: Egyptian Couple (British Museum)
Photographer: Ian Smith
Photo Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23941865@N02/