Ancient Egyptian Pictorial Conventions: Just the Basics

Summary

This video script delves into the fundamentals of Egyptian pictorial art, highlighting the unique approach of ancient Egyptian artists in representing three-dimensional human figures on a two-dimensional surface. It explores how they used a combination of perceptual and conceptual methods, such as the composite view and hieratic scaling, to create a sense of order and rationality in their art. The script also touches on the symbolic nature of Egyptian art, its association with spiritual rituals, and the use of color and hieroglyphics to convey meaning, providing a foundational understanding of the enduring pictorial conventions of Egyptian art.

Takeaways

• 🎨 Egyptian pictorial art includes two-dimensional art forms like painting, drawing, and low relief sculpture, and it emerged around 3000 BC.
• 🖌️ Ancient Egyptian artists were among the pioneers in representing three-dimensional human figures on a flat surface.
• 🌑 Egyptian art did not utilize techniques like light and shadow or perspective to create a sense of volume or space, unlike later artistic developments.
• 🧠 The art was conceptual, meaning it was more about ideas and mental constructs rather than direct observation, which is perceptual.
• 👣 The use of a single ground line to depict figures was a stabilizing element, despite not being a naturalistic representation of how ground appears under a person's feet.
• 🤸‍♂️ Egyptian figures were often depicted in a composite view, showing different sides of the body simultaneously, which was not how they would be seen in reality.
• 👁️ The eye, even when the head is in profile, is often shown frontally, as this was considered the most characteristic view.
• 👗 In depictions of women, one breast is often shown as if facing forward, even though the other is not depicted, reflecting a conceptual approach to anatomy.
• 🏛️ Egyptian pictorial order was rational and orderly, enduring for almost 3000 years, reflecting the conservative nature of Egyptian culture and art.
• 🔱 The use of hieratic scaling in Egyptian art indicated importance, with figures like the pharaoh depicted larger than others to signify their status.
• 🌈 Egyptian art is filled with symbols and often includes hieroglyphics, which are an integral part of the art's mystical and religious significance.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video script?

The video script focuses on the basics of Egyptian pictorial art, including painting, drawing, and low relief sculpture, without delving into a detailed analysis of any single work.

How did ancient Egyptian artists represent human figures on a flat surface?

Ancient Egyptian artists represented human figures on a flat surface by using a composite view, which combined different perspectives to capture the most characteristic aspects of the human figure, rather than naturalistic perspective or foreshortening.

What is the significance of the ground line in Egyptian pictorial art?

The ground line in Egyptian pictorial art is a stabilizing element that anchors the figure on a flat surface, suggesting a notion of place and space, despite not being a naturalistic representation of how the ground appears in real life.

Why did Egyptian artists use a composite view for representing figures?

Egyptian artists used a composite view to represent figures because it allowed them to capture the most characteristic aspects of the human figure from different perspectives, which could not be perceived all at once from a single viewpoint.

How did Egyptian artists handle the representation of feet in their art?

In Egyptian art, artists often depicted one foot directly in front of the other, which is a conceptual rather than a perceptual approach, as it does not accurately represent the natural stance of a human figure.

What is the difference between a perceptual and a conceptual approach in Egyptian art?

A perceptual approach in Egyptian art would be based on direct observation of the subject, while a conceptual approach is based on the artist's mental ideas and knowledge of the subject, often leading to a more stylized and idealized representation.

How did Egyptian artists use hieratic scaling in their art?

Egyptian artists used hieratic scaling to represent the importance of figures by size, with more important figures, such as the pharaoh, depicted larger than those of lesser importance, regardless of their actual spatial relationship.

What role did color play in Egyptian pictorial art?

Color in Egyptian pictorial art was used conventionally to differentiate between male and female figures, with men typically portrayed with red-brown skin and women with yellowish-ochre skin. It also indicated ethnic distinctions and was used symbolically.

How are symbols and hieroglyphics integrated into Egyptian pictorial art?

Symbols and hieroglyphics are integrated into Egyptian pictorial art to convey deeper meanings and religious beliefs. They often appear as part of the visual field and are intrinsically linked to the representational images, enhancing the mystical and symbolic content of the artwork.

What changes can be observed in Egyptian art over the different historical periods mentioned in the script?

While Egyptian art maintained a conservative and stylistically cohesive approach over three thousand years, experts can distinguish between Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom art, as well as special periods like the Amarna period, which introduced some stylistic variations and vivacity.

How does the video script describe the portrayal of gods and pharaohs in Egyptian art?

The video script describes the portrayal of gods and pharaohs in Egyptian art as being imbued with symbolism and often depicted with specific attributes and items that represent their divine and political roles, such as the false beard of the pharaoh or the various crowns symbolizing unification.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Introduction to Egyptian Pictorial Art

This paragraph introduces the basics of Egyptian pictorial art, which includes two-dimensional representations such as painting, drawing, and low relief sculpture. It emphasizes that Egyptian art is one of the earliest forms of representational art, dating back to around 3000 BC. The challenge of depicting three-dimensional figures on a flat surface is discussed, along with the techniques used by artists to achieve a sense of mass and space. Unlike later developments in art, ancient Egyptians did not use light and shadow or perspective but relied on a simpler, more conceptual system of representation. The paragraph also touches on the idea that representational art does not necessarily have to be highly naturalistic, and that the goal of early Egyptian art was to create identifiable figures and narratives rather than realistic depictions.

05:00

🌐 Composite View and Conceptual Approach in Egyptian Art

The second paragraph delves into the concept of the composite view in Egyptian art, where figures are depicted from different angles simultaneously to capture their most characteristic aspects. This approach is contrasted with a perceptual approach, which relies on direct observation. The paragraph explains how Egyptian artists combined perceptual and conceptual methods to create a unique and enduring style. It also discusses the use of ground lines to establish a sense of order and space, and how figures were often standardized to facilitate reproduction. The paragraph highlights the rationality and order in Egyptian art, which was closely tied to spiritual rituals and the mystical properties of the images.

10:02

🏛️ Hierarchical Scaling and Symbolism in Egyptian Art

This paragraph explores the use of hieratic scaling in Egyptian art, where the importance of a figure is indicated by its size, with the pharaoh often depicted much larger than others. It also examines the interplay between independent ground lines and space in representing groups of figures, such as workers in a wall painting from the Middle Kingdom. The paragraph discusses the use of color to denote skin tones and ethnic distinctions, as well as the conventions around clothing and the portrayal of the human body. Symbolism is a key aspect of Egyptian art, with certain items and figures holding specific meanings related to Egyptian religious beliefs and the roles of the pharaoh and gods.

15:06

📜 The Enduring Conventions and Evolution of Egyptian Art

The final paragraph summarizes the enduring pictorial conventions of Egyptian art, such as the composite view, hieratic scaling, and conceptual representation of space. It acknowledges the conservatism of Egyptian art over its 3000-year history, while also noting periods of stylistic evolution and exceptions to the rules, such as the Amarna period. The paragraph encourages further exploration of Egyptian pictorial arts, emphasizing that understanding these foundational conventions provides a solid basis for deeper study.

Keywords

💡Pictorial Art

Pictorial art refers to two-dimensional art forms such as painting, drawing, and low relief sculpture. In the context of the video, it specifically addresses how ancient Egyptian artists represented three-dimensional human figures on a flat surface without the use of techniques like perspective or foreshortening. The video emphasizes that pictorial art can involve both representational and non-representational elements, focusing on the former in the case of Egyptian art.

💡Low Relief Sculpture

Low relief sculpture is a form of sculpture where the figures are only slightly raised from the background, creating a flat appearance. The video mentions that even high relief sculpture, which has more depth, can have pictorial elements because the artist is still working on a flat surface. This concept is important for understanding how Egyptian artists approached the representation of figures in a way that was both three-dimensional and two-dimensional.

💡Representational Art

Representational art is art that aims to depict objects, people, or scenes in a way that is recognizable and resembles the real world. The video discusses how Egyptian pictorial art is representational, focusing on the challenge of representing three-dimensional figures on a two-dimensional surface. It contrasts this with naturalism, noting that Egyptian art was more conceptual and less concerned with creating a realistic sense of space or volume.

💡Composite View

A composite view in art is a technique where different parts of a figure are shown from different perspectives simultaneously. The video explains that Egyptian artists used this approach to represent the human figure, showing the shoulders and chest from a frontal view and the head and legs from a profile view. This convention allowed them to capture the most characteristic aspects of the figure, even if it did not accurately reflect how the figure would appear in a single moment.

💡Ground Line

The ground line in Egyptian art is a horizontal line that serves as a base for figures, suggesting a sense of place and space. The video points out that while the ground line is a stabilizing element, it is conceptual rather than perceptual, as it does not accurately represent how the ground appears under a person's feet in real life. It was used to anchor figures and create a sense of order in the artwork.

💡Hieratic Scaling

Hieratic scaling is a convention in Egyptian art where the size of a figure corresponds to its importance rather than its distance from the viewer. The video uses this term to explain how figures of greater importance, such as the pharaoh, were depicted larger than those of lesser importance, regardless of their actual spatial relationship. This scaling system was used to convey social hierarchy and the significance of certain figures within the artwork.

💡Conceptual Art

Conceptual art in the context of the video refers to art that is based on ideas and mental constructs rather than direct observation. Egyptian art is described as highly conceptual, with artists using a system of representation that made sense logically but did not always align with what the eye would perceive in reality. This approach is evident in the use of composite views, ground lines, and other conventions that prioritized the传达 of information over naturalistic depiction.

💡Perspective

Perspective in art is a technique used to represent three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface in a way that appears realistic to the viewer. The video notes that ancient Egyptian artists did not use perspective in the same way that later Western artists did. Instead, they employed a more conceptual approach to create a sense of space, often using overlapping figures and ground lines to suggest depth.

💡Foreshortening

Foreshortening is an artistic technique used to represent an object or figure as it appears when viewed from an angle, making it appear shorter than it actually is. The video mentions that Egyptian artists did not use foreshortening to achieve a sense of three-dimensionality in their figures, opting instead for a more straightforward and less illusionistic approach to representation.

💡Hieroglyphics

Hieroglyphics refers to the ancient Egyptian system of writing that uses pictorial symbols. The video explains that hieroglyphs often appear as part of the pictorial field in Egyptian art, making it difficult to separate the representative imagery from the written words. Hieroglyphs were not only a form of communication but also held mystical and symbolic significance, often used in conjunction with images to convey religious and spiritual messages.

💡Symbolism

Symbolism in art refers to the use of symbols to represent ideas or concepts. The video discusses how Egyptian art is rich in symbolism, with many images and objects carrying specific meanings related to religious beliefs and cultural practices. For example, the video mentions the use of the ankh symbol to represent life and immortality, and the depiction of gods and pharaohs with certain attributes to convey their roles and powers.

Highlights

Egyptian pictorial art includes painting, drawing, and low relief sculpture.

Egyptian sculpture was typically painted, even though it was three-dimensional.

Ancient Egyptian artists were among the first to represent figures in space on a flat surface.

Egyptians did not use techniques like light and shadow or perspective to give volume to figures.

Art in ancient Egypt was representational but not necessarily highly naturalistic.

Egyptian art used overlapping and ground lines to suggest space.

Egyptian art was conceptual, prioritizing the mind's idea over the eye's observation.

The ground line in Egyptian art was a stabilizing element but not a realistic representation.

Egyptian figures were portrayed in a composite view, combining different perspectives.

Egyptian art often depicted the eye in frontal view even when the head was in profile.

Egyptian pictorial art used a standardized approach to portray the human figure.

Egyptian art maintained a sense of rationality and order through its conventions.

The logic of Egyptian art endured for almost 3,000 years until the Roman conquest.

Egyptian art was conservative, especially with regard to spiritual rituals.

The composite view in Egyptian art was a formula for representing figures.

Egyptian art used hieratic scaling, where important figures were larger than others.

Egyptian pictorial art often included symbols and was accompanied by hieroglyphics.

Egyptian art depicted skin color to indicate ethnic distinctions.

Egyptian art used specific symbols and items to represent the pharaoh's power and divinity.

Egyptian art had stylistic changes over different kingdoms and periods.

Transcripts

this video introduces the basics of

egyptian pictorial art that's to say

egyptian two-dimensional art without

going into an in-depth analysis of any

one particular work

we'll remember that in addition to

painting drawing and so forth pictorial

art can refer to low relief sculpture

especially if it is very flat however

even high relief sculpture often has

some pictorial elements this is because

the artist is still working on some kind

of flat surface i should also note that

egyptian sculpture like all sculpture in

ancient times was typically painted

this video focuses on how ancient

egyptian artists represented human

figures which exist of course in three

dimensions on a flat surface

since ancient egyptian pictorial art

which emerged shortly before 3000 bc

represents one of the earliest

transitions from prehistoric to historic

ancient art the ancient egyptian artists

were among the first to take up the

challenge of representing figures in

space

of course the challenge in all

representational two-dimensional art is

to render a real-life three-dimensional

object on a flat surface

artists have long since discovered that

to achieve a sense of mass or the bulk

of 3d objects they might use light and

dark to suggest the highlighting and

shadows that define a surface

and to achieve a sense of space an

artist might use perspective overlapping

and foreshortening among other

techniques the ancient egyptians however

never discovered these techniques for

imbuing their figures with volume or

their scenes with naturalistic space and

instead used a simpler system for

representation

before i describe this i would note that

just because art is representational it

doesn't necessarily mean that it

requires a high level of naturalism

especially if the goal is merely to

render identifiable objects or an

identifiable narrative even a stick

figure might achieve this aim

but as we move out of the prehistoric

era the rudimentary depictions of

figures animals and so forth were

abandoned in favor of more convincing

representations with more details

in fact including more anatomical

details in a figure is the first step

towards naturalism the second is putting

these details together in a way that is

accurate with regard to scale or

proportions

early on the egyptians used overlapping

and ground lines which both suggested a

notion of place and space however

aspects of their art remained highly

conceptual

what i mean by conceptual is that it was

an idea of the mind rather than an

observation of the eye which would be

perceptual

we could start with the ground line

itself as an example of a conceptual

approach for although a ground line is

indeed a stabilizing element that

immediately anchors the figure on a flat

horizontal surface in our minds the

ground actually never appears to our

eyes as a straight line directly under a

person's feet in real life

unless maybe they're walking on a

balance beam if we zoom in on the feet

we should find another flaw with this

perfectly straight single ground line if

you stand in striding motion is one foot

exactly in front of the other of course

not and so if you were to photograph a

figure from the side you would see the

small space between the feet indicating

that one is farther from you than the

other in fact you would see this space

in the photograph of an egyptian statue

which is an inherently 3d object and

didn't require artists to figure out how

to render space

technically you might say a realistic

sense of space always generates two

ground lines for the feet of a figure

and profile although we can understand

how this space might be pictorially

elided into a single thick ground line

that both feet stand on even so it

really does require a conceptual rather

than a perceptual approach to stick one

foot directly in front of the other

the ancient egyptian combination of a

perceptual and conceptual approach runs

throughout the portrayal of figures not

just the feet egyptians rendered their

figures in a composite view that's to

say well obviously the representation is

derived in part from observation the

artists did not render the figure

exactly as seen

instead they assembled what they knew

about the human figure in a way that it

could never be perceived at one moment

in time

the view is called composite or mixed

because we are seeing the figure from

different sides at the same time

in fact these artists not unlike their

prehistoric forebears had done in a more

primitive way

captured the most characteristic aspects

of a figure the broad shoulders and

chest are thus seen in frontal view

but then the body twists unnaturally at

the neck so that the head is seen in

profile and even more unnaturally at the

waist so that the legs and those feet

are seen in profile

think of how difficult it would be to

capture the essence of a foot from a

frontal position

if you look carefully you'll notice that

although the head is in profile view the

eye is frontal

again because that is the most

characteristic view of the eye

conceptually it makes perfect sense

without training few would figure out

how to draw an eye from the side and in

part this is because as children we

rarely start drawing after close

observation of an object but instead

based on what we know from what we've

seen all along

fingers may certainly bend to hold

things or for other expressive purposes

but neutral hands adhere so strongly to

a prototype almost like a stamp that

there are those awkward moments when one

of the thumbs is facing the wrong

direction making the hand look like it

was attached backwards

our female figure here reveals another

strange assemblage of forms

what we observe in most egyptian

pictorial art where women are clothed is

that one breast projects out from the

body in the direction the woman is

facing

from that although the breast on the

other side is not depicted we strongly

infer its presence on the forward-facing

part of the chest

and yet it is never actually drawn in

that position

in fact when the woman is topless the

breast generally appears to be in

profile analogous to the composite view

of the frontal eye on the profile head

a similar convention exists for male

figures whose nipples are portrayed on

only one side of the body

egyptian pictorial art is conceptual in

other ways that i'll discuss but the

very word conceptual being of the mind

might also suggest a sense of

rationality and order and certainly the

egyptian pictorial order is easy to

grasp despite operating on a logic

counter to a photorealistic one

this is probably because our human minds

continually process and organize what we

observe

abstract thinking is one of the defining

traits of our species

the logic of egyptian art endured for

almost 3 000 years until the roman

conquest in 31 bc

egyptian culture was extremely

conservative especially with regard to

art

this is probably because art was most

prominently associated with spiritual

rituals

most of what has survived was found in

tombs or temples and the images had

mystical properties almost like a

painting springing to life or the words

from the page of a book doing the same

yet for all this mystical life egyptian

art though legible often looks rigid

stilted and formulaic throughout its

long history

in fact the composite view was a formula

or pictorial convention

even the proportions of the figures were

predetermined for ease of reproducing a

figure in any context or at any scale

an expert artist was one who had

mastered the pictorial conventions that

the powerful wealthy patrons namely the

royal family and the priests came to

expect

besides the composite view i mentioned

the ground line which though not

strictly naturalistic gives the work a

sense of order

sometimes the ground line is used to

divide a surface into registers with

each scene unfolding in a distinctly

delineated space

this is a formula used in much ancient

art and we continue to do something

similar today in comic books and graphic

novels

other times figures occupying the same

space may have their own independent

ground line on the one hand our

intuition may suggest that the smaller

figure represents a kind of diminution

as he moves back further in space

on the other hand we know from multiple

examples including those where figures

of different sizes occupy the same

ground line that egyptians used hieratic

scaling that's to say the most important

figures like the pharaoh most notably

were rendered at a much larger scale

than the common people who might be at

his service

a dramatic but illuminating example on

the interplay between independent ground

lines and space occurs in this

reproduction of a now destroyed wall

painting dating to the middle kingdom

it depicts workers transporting a large

statue at the very first glance the

figures seem to be disposed in

completely independent registers then we

realize they are all pulling this

enormous statue

and yet the bands of figures look

stacked upon each other as if they are

each pulling the heavy statue forward at

different heights

a closer look reveals that the ropes

they pull are all tied to the same point

the base

thus we understand that these are meant

to be rows of paired workers

standing all together on a flat ground

with one pair standing to the side of

another pair as well as in front of one

since the artist has used overlapping

for the pairs that are close together

it makes the stacked view which should

be perspectival

more difficult to grasp at first glance

it only makes sense conceptually

on the other hand if a perspectival view

with more overlapping was used in this

image do you think it would convey the

same sense of numbers

the repetition of a similar motif

strongly suggests the multiplication of

men

if you look at the image in its entirety

do you spot another convention

the ever-present hierarchic scaling is

used where the overseers on the left are

depicted larger than the menial workers

in certain artwork both fully sculptural

and two-dimensional conventional use of

color appears as well

men are portrayed with red brown skin a

mahogany hue

and women's skin has a more distinctly

yellowish ochre hue

furthermore whereas men typically wear a

kilt and are bare chested women wear

long semi-transparent dresses that cling

to the body

accordingly the legs are closer together

as noted one breast projects forward

whereas the other breast is not rendered

at all

skin color also indicated ethnic

distinctions in egyptian art as a center

of civilization egypt was a melting pot

for its neighbors on all sides but this

image shows the most common egyptian

type at the far left

finally it's important to mention that

egyptian art is replete with symbols and

like graphic novels is often accompanied

by writing or rather an ever advancing

system of writing known as hieroglyphics

because the hieroglyphs themselves

include pictures they often seem to

belong to the pictorial field and at the

purely visual level it's hard to

separate representative imagery from

words

as noted the words are just as much a

mystical and symbolic part of the

content as the representational images

both being innately tied to egyptian

religious beliefs in a tomb for example

the walls might be decorated with spells

that would help the deceased exceed to

the afterlife

symbolism further figures into works

since the pharaoh

or ancient egyptian king doubled as a

god and achieved political and secular

triumphs by the intervention of the gods

who appear abundantly in these tomb and

temple settings

falcon-headed horus appears frequently

with the pharaoh as the god of sky and

the kingship

pharaoh is recognizable by his false

beard which alludes to osiris god of

fertility and the afterlife among other

things who was himself depicted with a

beard green skin and shrouded like a

mummy from the waist down due to the

fact he was killed and resurrected

jackal-headed anubis was the predominant

god of death before osiris came to the

fore

he is depicted black like the rich silt

of the nile that fertilized the earth

when the river annually flooded the

lands and allowed for agriculture in an

otherwise desert setting

in some contexts pharaoh wears a crown

that combines the white crown of upper

egypt with the red crown of lower egypt

associated with the cobra goddess of

that region the combination of these two

crowns is a symbol of unification

the pharaoh

or certain gods are often depicted

holding several other symbolic items the

flagellum evoking both an agricultural

tool and a whip represents sovereignty

the heka evoking a shepherd's staff

symbolizes pharaoh's guidance of his

flock or his people

the wascepter evoking a stick used to

catch snakes is a sign of power and

dominance

the ant cross probably the best known

symbol meaning

life symbolizes immortality and eternity

as conservative as egyptian art was we

cannot expect it to look exactly the

same for three thousand years although

there is certainly a stylistic

cohesiveness that makes egyptian art

immediately recognizable

experts will know the difference between

old kingdom middle kingdom and new

kingdom art as well as other special

periods like the famous amarna period of

the mid 1300s bc during the new kingdom

there are many examples of vivacity in

egyptian art and there are even examples

of simple landscape backgrounds or

figures in motion that break the rules

in a manner of speaking

but since this is just the basics if you

remember the egyptians enduring

pictorial conventions regarding the

composite view hieratic scaling and

conceptual ways of showing space you'll

have the foundational springboard for

exploring egyptian pictorial arts wall

painting and relief sculpture in more

depth and at more leisure happy

exploring