Ancient Egyptians
In any civilization, art is seen as an essential aspect. During the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000-c.3150 BCE), it’s when the process of art began through inscription the images of animals, supernatural figures, and human beings, ‘political leaders’ on the walls. These images express a critical value of the Egyptian cultural consciousness through it offers an opportunity for a crude comparison to the later developments. The architectural monuments, paintings, decorative crafts, and sculptures were produced in ancient Egypt in Egypt’s Nile valley regions during the dynastic periods of the first three millennia. Presently, we marvel at the treasures glittering from the Tutankhamun, New Kingdom sublime reliefs, and the Old Kingdom statuary, which is its serene beauty; hence, it’s essential for our remembrance that the works were not intended to be seen. Art was used to presenting the social structure and customs of the era and not by portraying human beauty. In several civilizations, the portrayal of kings, queens, and deities is used to mirror human society presently. Today art is part of the political context, which is evident in social transformation and crisis. (Mark,2017)
We use art and architecture through mighty monuments and its power expressed through its scale and permanency; hence there is a suggestion of reflecting the supremacy and strength of the state or ruler. For example, transient, and incendiary, which instigates change or calls for protest. Phidias (c. 490-430 BCE), a Greek artist, created Athena and Zeus’s statues and understood their practical purposes. However, his aim might have been to make a pleasing piece to make ‘art’ as understood by people today and not create functional and practical work. Despite Egypt’s art being regraded highly today and is an excellent draw in the museums’ exhibits, they would find it strange since the statuary was created for specific reasons. The modernized paintings presently cheer us and entertain us but change our ways of thinking about politics, social issues, and art. (Hannu et al. 2015)
Reference
Mark, J. J. (2017, May 26). Ancient Egyptian Art. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Art/
Hannu Jaakkola and Bernhard Thalheim. (2015) “Architecture-driven modelling methodologies.” In: Proceedings of the 2011 conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases XXII. Anneli Heimbürger et al. (eds). IOS Press. p. 98