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Is Egyptian art similar stylistically to any Mesopotamian culture from that time? Which culture and how are they similar or different in style and cultural context? Compare and contrast the formal and iconographic characteristics of Ti Hunting Hippopotamus and Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions. Identify formal and iconographic characteristics ancient Egyptian art shares with prehistoric Near Eastern images<\/p>\n
Many of the examples of Egyptian art seen in this chapter belong to North American and European museums, since foreign archeologists made many of the early discoveries. Travelling shows of Egyptian art are very popular and are potentially huge revenue producers. While today removing a country’s cultural patrimony is illegal, this was not the case in the past. Should these works now be returned to Egypt? <\/p>\n
You have been asked why scholars use the word “conservative” to describe ancient Egyptian pictorial arts. How do you answer the question? Describe the Egyptian canon of proportion and how it was applied. Make sure to discuss the significance of the Amarna Period and explain its formal and iconographic characteristics.Why does a change in religion bring about a change in art in ancient Egypt? We have seen that the style and iconography of Egyptian art changed with the introduction of a new religious system. Do you think that Akhenaton’s religious and artistic “revolution” was brave or foolhardy? Explain your position.<\/p>\n
There are many conventions within Egyptian imagery that go against our own iconography. One example is the stylization and formalization of royal portraiture while making those lower on the social hierarchy more naturalistic, and presumably a closer approximation to how they might have actually looked. Some art historians have also argued that Egyptian culture was far more matricentric then once thought. They look to the importance of Hathor, the mother goddess within Egyptian culture and in examples like Double Portrait in FIGURE 3-13 as evidence. In this image we see the woman holding the man in complete reversal of how our own images of male and female coupling are depicted. the argument has been made that although the Pharaoh had absolute power, that power came from his marriage to the woman and the female line of power. If true, it shows how we privilege our current world view and transpose it to the past. Discuss these and other ways in which our interpretation and view of Egyptian art might be determined by our own cultural prerogatives.<\/p>\n