Egyptian culture has fascinated the minds of merchants, artists, photographers, travelers, and religions ever since the civilization was first founded on the lower Nile Valley. Their art in particular has sparked debate and interest even now, centuries later.
In a time when the Romans and Greeks were taking more 'natural' approaches to their art in order to accurately portray the world around them; Egyptians had an entirely different purpose for their art.
Egyptians loved two-dimensional art and represented nearly everything in their everyday lives using an uniquely static mode of expression. In Egyptian artwork, every element was displayed in the most easily recognized pose, giving the work its archetypal look of having the eye and shoulders in a frontal pose while their face, torso, and other limbs were in a profile view.
However, unlike other forms of art that focused on the beauty of nature for its own sake, Egyptian art used symbolism to portray complete information about a scene, using iconic imagery that explained how a thing was done, by whom, when, and why. Another important aspect of Egyptian art is the use of registers in order to tell a pictorial story. These registers form ground lines for the figures, show which scenes are the most important to the information being conveyed. The scenes without registers were actually quite unusual and portray things that the Egyptians deemed chaotic. During hunting scenes, prey is typically depicted without registers, as are invading armies. However, even without registers, this type of artwork is still meticulously depicted.
Despite the simple rendering and colors that typify this category of art, Egyptian art is prized by collectors around the world for decoration in their homes, as well as for the cultural relevance and history portrayed within it. This art provides an unique glimpse into a different mode of living and allows modern day enthusiasts to see what was important to this ancient civilization, from tallying the amount of harvested grain to historic events that helped to shape this great and unique culture.
