The Iconography Of The Pharaoh S Face In The Eighteenth Dynasty Relief

The principal aim of this study is to present a novel method for exploiting a grid of 256 (16x16) square modules used to measure two-dimensional human face, with implementation to the Egyptian royal portrait in relief. Most of the underlying principles of the proposed method, in particular, the use of a square grid understood as a uniform measuring tool of a standardised internal structure and a set of constant points of measurement, are connected with the research conducted by Erik Iversen, Roland Tefnin and Gay Robins. The major part of the study shows a detailed description of the proposed research method and an analysis of the measurements taken in compliance with the criteria stipulated therein. Comparison of the values of all selected measurements within a given portrait of a ruler with the values of corresponding points from other portraits dated to the same period constitutes the key element of the analysis. The results are then compared with the values of the measurements of reliefs of the remaining Eighteenth Dynasty kings acquired according to the same method. In order to expand the research perspective selected examples of application of the hypothetical square grid for the analysis of painted royal portrait are presented. The concluding remarks have been formulated in a relevant manner to answer the fundamental question of this study, namely, whether and to what extent the method could serve as an auxiliary tool for dating and identification of pharaohs' portraits carved in relief or made with the use of painting technique.

A fascinating look at the artistically productive reign of Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh in ancient Egypt

The move to a new capital, Akhenaten/Amarna, brought essential changes in the depictions of royal women. It was in their female imagery, above all, that the artists of Amarna departed from the traditional iconic representations to emphasize the individual, the natural, in a way unprecedented in Egyptian art.

Diseases and injuries were major concerns for ancient Egyptians. This book, featuring some sixty-four objects from the Metropolitan Museum, discusses how both practical and magical medicine informed Egyptian art and for the first time reproduces and translates treatments described in the spectacular Edwin Smith Papyrus.

Reproduction of the original: A history of art in ancient Egypt by Georges Perrot, Charles Chipiez