Last Blog!

My favorite pieces of art were from when we studied Ancient Egypt. I love the unique qualities these artworks used to express the religious context and purpose of life. I am a religious person as well so when I see how Egyptians used elements in their life to achieve a personal relationship and physical closeness with whom they cherish, it allows me to realize my faith. I was also amazed with the pyramids, because when anyone mentions pyramids, it is very often that people think of the Egyptian pyramids. It was mentioned in lecture that the taller and larger the pyramid was, represented that person was of more power. I especially favored the breathtaking and overwhelming appeal to The Pyramids at Giza, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, because of their sheer massive size, and how people carried these concrete slabs to the top of the pyramids when they were building them was just extraordinary to learn. I think I would have to say that the Great Sphinx Funerary Complex of Khafre would have to be one of my favorites, due to cultural aspects behind it. A very distinctive element shown was the Great Sphinx, and that they looked at with such protective qualities. It acted like their guardian that protected them from evil and destruction It was very smart to allow light in by a technique of putting windows called clerestory, as well as over time observe how certain techniques developed and how they were carried out. I mentioned in my Ancient Egyptian blog that I remember learning about the Egyptian history in sixth grade, but I never once heard of the different structural aspects inside and the purpose in which they serve, such as the mastaba, stepped pyramid, and pyramid on page 55 of our textbook. The purpose of these pyramids was not only to show their gods by sacrificing tangible objects, but they also served as burial areas.

I am also intrigued about the ruling of one person, because that cultural aspect obviously does not exist here in the United States, so to learn about the dynasties made it that much more interesting to learn about. Also, the afterlife of which the Egyptians believed in was extraordinary to learn about. The Ka, or the life force or soul of every human was reborn again into someone else after death. I personally do not believe of such, but to think that you never really spiritually die is another spiritual aspect that was introduced to me.

Another element in Egyptian art that I had an interest in learning was the Hierarchy of Scale to show who had more power and control, and depicted significance of characters, while Canon of Proportions was used to draw figures to proportion. I also mentioned in my blog that this was used to signify the togetherness of that culture, even though certain characters were shown in a larger way. A measurement I still recall was that the feet were always two and a half squares long. With these techniques, the audience is able to distinguish who is of importance and more importantly what their role was, compared to art we have studied the last couple of weeks where figures are of equal size. I also am fond of the descriptive narratives told throughout artwork such that of Palette of Narmer, where it is a narrative of the life of Narmer himself, and showing other people in composite pose, or of which were different angles of body parts are depicted into one person. I also learned that it was used for makeup.  In narratives such as this one, we can also observe figures wearing jewelry and artistic clothing, that was in a way stylistic in their own one of a kind way. These stories give me a perspective that allows me to see that these were indeed real people, instead of a fictional story.

Of course I learned several other cultural aspects, reasons why they do things, and elements of artwork, but the Egyptian artwork was by far my favorite to learn about!