 |
Akhenaten and his family - note the bizarre quality of their figure
which is almost alien-like |
The revolution carried out by Akhenaten was not confined to the area
of religion alone. Indeed, noticeable change also occurred to the Egyptian art,
which may serve to reflect Akhenaten’s religious disposition. The new artistic
style adopted by the heretic Pharaoh nevertheless appeared somewhat bizarre
and…to put it bluntly…otherworldly.
Ancient Egyptian art was generally formal and often depicted its
subject matters in an idealised way with many layers of meaning. It was in
other words very traditional, with its closely-observed guidelines and
formality when people are portrayed. Nonetheless, despite the idealisation, individuals are not devoid of their facial characteristics
altogether. One such example is Ramesses II’s recognisable nose.
However, towards the end of Amenhotep III’s reign and throughout the
reign of Akhenaten, a new flowing artistic style developed. While often
described as “naturalistic”, it is also extremely stylised in its depiction of
human figures. Yet again in a clean break with the past traditions, Akhenaten
had himself portrayed with a bizarre elongated skull, wide hips, tall and thin
legs, a pendulous breast and a round belly. One may question how such peculiar
portrayal does any justice to the dignity of a Pharaoh, who was himself an
embodiment of god. Supposed one says that such strange portrayal may reflect
Akhenaten’s often-cited deformity, he is not the only person portrayed in such
a manner. Nefertiti, his Queen, and his daughters were likewise portrayed with elongated
skull. Ahkenaten’s Chief Sculptor Bek was also depicted with pendulous breasts
and a noticeable stomach. The Chief Sculptor has told us on a stele that he was
instructed by the Pharaoh himself to represent what he saw, which indeed
suggested that Akhenaten did possess his rather bizarre body figure.
Such portrayal of the Pharaoh with a bizarre figure is not surprising
given we knew about Akhenaten’s deformity. However, why was Akhenaten’s family,
especially his Queen the beautiful Nefertiti, portrayed also in a similar
manner? As far as we know, she never had any deformity. All we know is that
during the Armarna period, the Pharaoh and his family were depicted according to
slightly different artistic conventions as follows:
· At the beginning of his reign – the Pharaoh was depicted with a standard
body shape. This may be because he did not yet have a chance to develop his own
artistic form, or the disease had not yet begun to afflict the Pharaoh.
· Later in his reign – Under Bek, the Pharaoh began to be depicted with
feminine curves, heavy thighs and belly, half –closed eyes, full lips and long
face and neck.
· At the end of his reign – Under Thutmose (who took over Bek as the Chief
Sculptor), the Pharaoh was depicted with a more normal shape, but with an
elongated skull still. It is Thuthmose who created the more beautiful artworks
depicting the royal family, including the famous burst of Nefertiti
It remains a mystery
to this day whether the idiosyncratic art from was stylistic or realistic, and
if stylistic, what was its purpose. It
may be that the art was developed as a reverence for the natural world created
and governed by the all-powerful sun Aten.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น