Interview: Nudity in the Ancient World
The nude figure is a universal visual theme, deeply rooted in the history of art, and it is seemingly ubiquitous in the art of the ancient civilizations of the Near East and Mediterranean. The Antikenmuseum, in Basel, Switzerland, recently opened a new exhibition – Naked! The Art of Nudity – which carefully examines every facet of nude art in the ancient […]
Roman Art
The Romans controlled such a vast empire for so long a period that a summary of the art produced in that time can only be a brief and selective one. Perhaps, though, the greatest points of distinction for Roman art are its very diversity, the embracing of art trends past and present from every corner of the empire and […]
The Sun God & the Priests of Amun
There was another power in Egypt which had been growing long before Amenhotep III came to the throne: the cult of Amun. Land ownership meant wealth in Egypt and, by Amenhotep III’s time, the priests of Amun owned almost as much land as the king. In accordance with traditional religious practice, Amenhotep III did nothing […]
Key Art forms
Roman Sculpture Roman sculpture blended the idealised perfection of earlier Classical Greek sculpture with a greater aspiration for realism and mixed in the styles prevalent in Eastern art. Roman sculptors have also, with their popular copies of earlier Greek masterpieces, preserved for posterity invaluable works which would have otherwise been completely lost to world art. […]
Neglecting Egypt’s Allies
The pharaoh as a servant of the gods, and identified with a certain god (most often Horus), was common practice in ancient Egyptian culture, but no one before Akhenaten had proclaimed himself an actual god incarnate. As a god, he seems to have felt that the affairs of state were beneath him and simply stopped attending to […]
Akhetaten & Amarna Art
Life in his palace at Akhetaten seems to have been his primary concern. The city was built on virgin land in the middle of Egypt facing towards the east and precisely positioned to direct the rays of the morning sun toward temples and doorways. The city was: Laid out parallel to the river, its boundaries […]
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III (c. 1386-1353 BCE) was the ninth king of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. He is also known as Nebma’atre, Amenophis III, Amunhotep II, and Amana-Hatpa, all of which relate to the concept of the god Amun being satisfied or, as in the case of Nebma’atre, with the ideal of satisfied balance. He was the son of the pharaoh Tuthmosis […]
A Brief History of Egyptian Art
Art is an essential aspect of any civilization. Once the basic human needs have been taken care of such as food, shelter, some form of community law, and a religious belief, cultures begin producing artwork, and often all of these developments occur more or less simultaneously. This process began in the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000 – c. […]
Art in the First Intermediate Period
The First Intermediate Period has long been characterized as a time of chaos and darkness and artwork from this era has been used to substantiate such claims. The argument from art rests on an interpretation of First Intermediate Period works as poor quality as well as an absence of monumental building projects to prove that Egyptian […]
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 BCE) was a pharaoh of 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt. He is also known as ‘Akhenaton’ or ‘Ikhnaton’ and also ‘Khuenaten’, all of which are translated to mean ‘successful for’ or ‘of great use to’ the god Aten. Akhenaten chose this name for himself after his conversion to the cult of Aten. Prior […]
