Egyptian Portrayal of the Human Form

An artistic convention is a method of representing something. Rather than observing things around them or using a still life, the Egyptians made their art based on concrete and distinct conventions while giving it a life-like appearance.

One convention that the Egyptians commonly used after their ancestors was the application of hierarchic scale. This allowed artists to represent figures of importance by enlarging them, and keeping other individuals much smaller to signify their social status.

Egyptian art is full of symbols. This doesn’t only include hieroglyphics, but also animalistic figures were used repeatedly to portray a specific person. For example, the God of Earth, Horus, was usually depicted as a falcon, or a falcon-headed man. The Egyptians paid great attention to the human form. In art, they exhibited every recognizable perspective of the human body using composite poses. The head, hips, legs and feet were all created in profile, while the torso and eyes were seen frontally. The use of this convention stayed with the Egyptians for many millennia. In fact, they used composite poses to express power of leaders in conjunction with hierarchic scale to make them seem much larger and more god-like than the small people in the background.

I feel that the Egyptians acquired a great sense of creativity because of their ability to depict their subjects solely on the use of conventions. However, it can be said that most of the figures portrayed in this art are almost exactly the same. Since they based their art on these conventions of the human form, there is no diversity in each person. In other words, if they had created their art with the reference of a still life or a model, then there would be more differences in the characteristics of people. I think that this gives them more creativity, though, because they don’t necessarily need to constantly look at something as a reference; they can create those images from memory. Although, these human figures look similar, the viewer can still distinguish who the person is in the piece because of symbolism. In order for the Egyptians to characterize important figures and gods, they personified animals that symbolize these rulers, like that of the falcon and the god Horus. I don’t believe that the Egyptians created art to show off their talent as an artist, rather they did it as a symbol of importance of the gods and rulers of Egypt. For example, The Palette of Narmar is a clear representation of Narmar, the ruler of Upper Egypt, and his control of Lower Egypt. In conclusion, the Egyptians used hierarchic scale and composite poses to create these images of figures with the intention to represent something important to the people and the deceased.