Ancient Egyptian Art essays

Ancient Egyptian Art essays Egyptian art was an important part of their lives at this time. Art at this time was either commissioned by kings or nobles for temples or tombs. They had wall paintings and statues of gods and kings in temples to serve for a spiritual purpose. Egyptians loved to be surrounded by beauty in life and in death. Egyptian art was for all intent and purposes for religious and funerary art. Colorful paintings and reliefs, which once decorated the walls of tombs of Pharaoh and the royal family, wealthy officials, courtiers, and nobles, ensured the survival of the deceased in the afterlife. Sculptures could serve as a home for the " k " of the deceased which is the spiritual essence while others would be ex-voto and gifts offered to a deity(Smith 32). They believe this spirit would help that person come back in the next life because of they praying to these sculptures. Their homes often had paintings on the walls, and royal palaces had elaborately painted floors and ceilings. Tombs were filled with as many statues, and also carving and painting, as an owner could afford because they believed it would bring them back to a better life. Egyptian statue wall paintings and carved steles were all functional. The images we see of humans and gods, animals and plants, had a religious intention. Egyptian art could only develop as religious ideas evolved; and such ideas in turn were modified only as a result of changes in the environment(Aldred 5). Statues were places where gods or deceased humans could manifest themselves, places where a spirit could dwell. For non-royal people, the images in the tombs were places of contact between the world of the dead and the world of the living. The Egyptians created art to endure. The major art forms they used were sculpture, painting, and sculptured relief. Sculptured reliefs are basically drawings that have been carved on flat surfaces, stone walls and slabs being the...