Ferenc Pulszky's Lecture on Egypt
London, 1853
Transcription by: Károly Goda, Andrea Hasznos
Notes by: Andrea Hasznos
Notes to the transcription
The present text has been transcribed from the original manuscript handwritten by Ferenc Pulszky. The handwriting is somewhat difficult to read in some places and there are many corrections and deletions. It is recommended therefore that those willing to decipher the yet illegible words study the manuscript as well with the transcription. Pulszky's text and spelling was closely followed: his sometimes inconsistent or defective usage of capitals (e.g. Egyptian - egyptian) and that of the ordinals (presence or absence of th) has been preserved as well as his punctuation, the latter was corrected where helpful to understanding.
The following signs can be found in the transcription:
numbers of the lines of the manuscript (not present in the original)
...
word or part of a word illegible for the transcriber
<,>
used for punctuation marks, letters or words not present in the manuscript but necessary
{,}
used for punctuation marks which are present in the manuscript but are superfluous
(?)
uncertain reading of a word
spaced letters
for passages or words written above the line by Pulszky as a correction
Fol. 1-20.
1, r (= f 80, r)
Introduction (1)
MFA 2006 I am to deliver a series of Lectures on Archaeology Szilágyi 1991 and History of art to an english audience, belonging Bothmer, D. von, Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts 31 (1968) to a race, which amidst its unparalleled Szilágyi 1988 prosperity has not yet lost its energies, which is Johnston, Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts, 83 (1995) fully aware of its great taste in the history of Moore, Mary B, Horses by Exekias, American Journal of Archeology 72 (1968) mankind, and which ever-busy and ever-progressive and beset Villaneuva Puig, M.-Chr. , Deux iconographies dionysiaques paralléles: celle du Peintre d’Amasis et celle d’Exékias. Deux personnalités artistiques?, Céramique et peinture grecques. Modes d’emploi. Actes du colloque international, Ecole du Louvre, Paris, with the cares of the present, and with the preparations Szilágyi 2003 for the future, is more accustomed in its present stage of development to look onward Webster - Green - Seeberg, Monuments Illustrating New Comedy 1995, on the times to come, than to remember the past, Szilágyi 2000 and to review the beginnings of Szilágyi J. Gy. - Szentesi E. (Ed.), Antiquitas Hungarica: Tanulmányok a Fejérváry-Pulszky-gyűjtemény és a Liber Antiquitatis történetéről, Collegium Budapest Workshop Series No. 16, Budapest 2005, present civilization. But I know you are aware that Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Hongrie, Budapest 2, a generation Szilágyi-Castiglione1957 which does not honor its ancestors is not worthy Türr 1984 to be remembered by its descendants, and I know you are aware that Frel, J., Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts 16 (1960) the experience of forty five centuries must contain 16 some reliable teachings even for the fast Jacobsthal, P., Early Celtic Art, Oxford 1944, age of railways and telegraphs, I go therefore Brown, W.Ll., The Etruscan Lion, Oxford, 1960, without further apology back to the dawn of Weber, Th., Bronzekannen, Frankfurt-Bern, 1983, history now (?) that your sympathy will follow Márton 1933 me with equal interest to the valley of the Nile, to the banks of 21 the Tiger and Euphrates, to the sacred rivers of Bothmer, D. von, Amazons in Greek Art, Oxford, 1957 India and China, to the Arno, to the Ilisses (?) to Brommer F., Vasenlisten zur gr. Heldensage, Marburg, 1956, the Tiber.
1, v (=f 79, r)
Importance of Egypt
Brommer F., Vasenlisten zur gr. Heldensagen, Marburg, 1960 The most influential of the nations of antiquity for artistic Szilágyi 1949 culture is Egypt. Its influence in the history of human Szabó 1972 civilization can not be overrated, it is the cradle Bouzek jan, Eirene 9 (1971) of science, and remained the teacher of the J. Bouzek, Eirene 6 (1967) old world. Assyrian art, Greek mythology philo- Bakay Kornél, Scytian Rattles in the Carpathian Basin and their eastern connections, Budapest, 1971, sophy and legislature, Roman Chronology carry us Lilian-Dirlmeier, Anhänger in Griechenland von der mykenischen bis zur spätgeometrischen Zeit, München, 1979 back to the valley of the Nile. Pythagoras Barkóczi László, Antike Gläser, Roma, 1996, Thales, Solon, Herodotus, Plato visited pharaonic Egypt Ritter 2005 attracted by the wisdom of the priest caste Camporeale G., Studi Etruschi 40 (1972) and by the stability of the political institutions, Szilágyi J. Gy., Etruscans 2 (1970-1972) Under the Ptolemies it became also the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Hongrie, Budapest 1, repository of Greek science by the splendid library Thomas, E.B. in Rittratto ufficiale e ritratto privato, Att. Della II. Conf. Internazionale. Sul Ritratto Romano., Roma, 1984, Roma, 1988 of Alexandria, when Julius Caesar reformed the Sprincz E., Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts 77 (1992) calendar and introduced that system of Chronology Cservena, S. - Tilkia N., Arkheologija 1994 which is yet in use in a great part of Europe Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts = A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei - Tartalomjegyzék he got his knowledge from the Egyptians, BullMusHong_1.1947 and after Christianity had reformed the social state BullMusHong_2.1948 of the world the character of the Egyptians had not yet lost its vitality<;> the Hermits and the monasteries BullMusHong_3.1949 of the Thebais introduced BullMusHong_4-5.1954 ascetic forms into the church, and gave her BullMusHong_6-7.1955 an earnestness and impressed her with a gloom which BullMusHong_8-9.1956 reminds us again of the earnest and BullMusHong_10-11.1957 gloomy features of old Egyptian life
2, r (= f 82, r)
Old Geographical features
2, v (=f 78, r)
BullMusHong_56-57.1981 sand of the Arabian and of the Lybian wilderness BullMusHong_58-59.1982 excludes vegetation, and then the deserts are BullMusHong_60-61.1983 again at a small distance bound by BullMusHong_62-63.1984 two parallel barren mountainranges. BullMusHong_64-65.1985 The scenery therefore is BullMusHong_66-67.1986 poor and monotonous, it is a narrow fertile plain, hardly varied by scarce trees bissected BullMusHong_68-69.1987 by a mighty but slow river BullMusHong_70-71.1989 bound on both sides BullMusHong_72-73.1990 by a strip of sand desert, and by a barren BullMusHong_74-75.1991 calcareous mountainrange. The monotony of scenery BullMusHong_76-77.1992 is yet hightened by the want of BullMusHong_78-79.1993 variety in the climate, there are no thunderstorms BullMusHong_80-81.1994 no rains in Egypt, the inundation of the BullMusHong_82-83.1995 Nile and its decreases succeed one another with mathematical BullMusHong_84-85.1996 precision, everything in nature bears BullMusHong_86-87.1997 in Egypt the type of a fixed and steady BullMusHong_88-89.1998 scale. BullMusHong_90-91.1999 Such a nature gave a peculiar ... to the character BullMusHong_92-93.2000 of the Egyptian. He grew BullMusHong_94-95.2001 earnest, the desert and wilderness close BullMusHong_96-97.2002 to the fields reminded him always of death, BullMusHong_98-99.2003 his occupations dependeding from the regular BullMusHong_100-101.2004 increase and decrease of the river made him apt to r... BullMusHong_102-103.2005 a steady rule, his endeavours to encroach
3.
Isolation
BullMusHong_108-109.2008 Besides, the geographical position of the BullMusHong_110-111.2009 country isolated him, the sea to the North BullMusHong_112-113.2010 was in the early age of BullMusHong_114-115.2011 mankind a barrier not less formidable than BullMusHong_116-177.2012 the desert, the cataracts to the South were 101 sufficient to impede the frequent intercourse with 102 the African tribes, Egypt therefore had not much to 103 fear the incursions of Barbarians attracted 104 by the wealth of the country it could 105 develop slowly and steadily undisturbed by foreign influence, it had no inclement (4) for foreign colonization, instead of which the valley became filled with cities and the population increased.(5)
Nile Similar to the 106 Nile which is contained in its narrow 107 bed until its power is sufficiently increased 108 and it spreads over all the valley and 109 carries wealth and fertility with its seemingly 110 destructive floods, the Egyptian 111 nation increased in number and in culture and developed its 112 power through centuries in perfect isolation 113 until it was strong enough to extend 114 beyond the valley of the Nile to overflow 115 a portion of Asia, and to deposit the sand of 116 civilazition on its soil by wars and conquests.
Mythology
117 The characteristic feature of nature and the institution 118 of castes, the influence of the priests, the centralization introduced by 119 Menes favoured in Egypt the development 120 of the understanding and the repression of 121 the imaginative faculties. Earnest and even gloomy sobriety pervaded 122 the religious, political and domestic life of 123 the Egyptians. Their Gods were the personifica- 124 tions of abstract ideas, but without indivi- 125 duality or action, with the only one exception 126 of Osiris his strife with Typhon, his ... 127 burial revival and the revenge by his 128 son Horus there is scarcely any myth to be 129 found in Egypt, and even the myth of Osiris 130 does not appear on the works of egyptian 131 art, instead of the rich poetry of the 132 Greek Olymp, the egyptian Pantheon 133 presents us only with a few philosophical 134 abstractions, their worship is entirely ceremonial. 135 The political life of Egypt was also very monotonous 136 the division in castes 137 and the hereditary principle applied even to mechanical 138 occupations 139 defined (6) the aim life, and the circle of activity
4.
Science
140 of every citizen. Steady rules and the Hierarchy controlled the deposition of the 141 kings. There was no room for eccentricity on the 142 the banks of the Nile, the nation increased steadily 143 under a strong descipline. The Egytians therefore 144 did not excel in poetry but they cultivated sciences 145 especially mathematics. Geometry and Astronomy were here 146 developed, but entirely with a dry and practical 147 aim the one in order to determine the 148 boundaries of the fields disappearing every 149 year under the flood of the Nile, the other 150 to ascertain the exact direction of the year, the knowledge of which was 151 much more required in a country where the 152 changes of climate succeed one another so regurarly than 153 in other countries where agriculture is 154 less strictly bound to fixed periods.155 (7)
Art
156 Nature and climate has every where the grea- 157 test influence on the institutions and the character 158 of a people, the character of the people 159 again finds its expression in art. In 160 Egypt therefore we find dominant an established, 161 a hieratic style which leaves but 162 little scope to the individuality of the artist
163 and of the work of art. Art is but slowly 164 progressing, the types remain in sculpture 165 the same from the first beginning to the epoch 166 of decline, and superficial observers were therefore 167 induced to speak about the stability and 168 and (sic) the stationary character of Egyptian art, whilst 169 a closer observation shows us in the details 170 epochs of progress<,> decline<,> revival<,> ...fication 171 and foreign influence, until at last after 172 a lapse of more than thirty centuries it is 173 extinguished not to revive again. 174
Longer epoch
The epochs are longer than 175 in our time, because with a primitive isolated 176 people which has to work out 177 its civilization from itself progress and 178 decline cannot be as fast, as it is 179 with an age, where the 180 continuous intercourse of nations immediately communicates 181 ideas, inventions and every result of science to 182 all the others. Antique culture 183 was eminently national and different in 184 every country, modern civilization is the 185 cosmopolitan, it belongs to mankind 186 not to any special country.
5.
187 188 In order to understand the Phases of Egyptian art
(8) 189 we must throw 190 a rapid glance on the political history of 191 Egypt. (9) 192 The principal periods, as you are aware 193 are those of Menes, who establishes a central government 194, and of his successors, under whom 195 the commonwealth increases in culture and 196 riches up to the XIIth Dynasty < - > we call it the old empire. (10) The irruption 197 of a nomad population, the Hyksos, 198 probably a tartar (?) tribe mounted on horses, 199 - in the old empire no horses are mentioned, - 200 puts a stop to the gradual and steady 201 development, the nomad intruders who signalize 202 themselves only by destruction not by art, 203 are expelled 204 from the valley of the Nile after a 205 domination of several centuries by the 206 descendants of the earlier Dynasties 207 who found a refuge in Upper Egypt 208 just as the Goths of Spain retired to 209 the mountains, before the irruption of the ... ... (11) and reconquered the Peninsula 210 after many centuries.
Restoration
211 The glorious restoration of the Empire awakens 212 all the energies of the people, the XVIII and XIXth 213 Dynasty ignores altogether the reign of 214 the intruders, and reestablishes all the ancient 215 institutions with the most scrupulous anxiety, 216 in the same time great kings lead 217 the nation which got conscious of its 218 power by the struggle with the Hyksos 219 into Nubia, Phoenicia, Mesopotamia 220 and Assyria, Egypt is the ruling power on 221 earth, and the kings and chiefs sead percent 222 and tribute to the palaces and temples of 223 Theba (sic). It is the period of expansion. 224 But the successors of the great conquerors 225 are not equal to their ancestors, the 226 power of the empire declines, it has to 227 submit to Athiopian rulers, 228 once more it rallies under the XXVIth 229 Dynasty Psammetic, Apries, Amasis once more 230 restore the ancient splendour of Egypt, 231 but Persia's power is irresistible, Egypt 232 becomes a province, it recovers its independence under Amyrtaios for half a century, loses it again and shares the fate of her lords (?) Paramount the Persians.(12) 233 After the death
6.
234 of Alexander the Great, the most able and most 235 distinguished of his Generals Ptolemy is installed 236 upon the throne of the Pharaos, and Egypt 237 enjoys again a separate national existence, Greek 238 art and Greek ideas begin 239 to have an influence on the country of the Nile, but 240 the Roman Empire absorbs Egypt finally and 241 its levelling tendencies destroy at last 242 Egyptian nationality and egyptian art. -
Art periods
243 The epochs of art in Egypt 244 are parallel to those of her history. We 245 have therefore first a period of steady and healthy development<:>
246 The period of the old Empire, culminating in the XIIth Dynasty<.> 247 Then that of the restoration under the XVIII and 248 XIXth Dynasty <around> 1600 b. Ch., the period of the second 249 revival under the XXVIth Dynasty <around> 600 b. Ch., the 250 period of the Ptolemaic influence of Greece, <around> 300 b. Ch. 251 and that of the decline under the Roman 252 Empire.
253 The earliest remains 254 of Egyptian art we know are contamporaneous 255 with the IVth Dynasty, the builders of the 256 Pyramids, at least 2500 257 according to B... 3200 years before Christ. At 258 this time we find already a highly developed art
259 no rude and shapeless figures which would carry 260 us back to the infantori age of sculptor era.
Menes
The 261 Hieroglyphic of the king who is at the head of 262 Egyptian history<,> Menes<,> is an evidence of great 263 culture, Men, which means to build 264 to found, to establish, the root of his 265 name is symbolized by a wall, but 266 this wall is ...lated.
IVth Dynasty. Pylones and Pilasters
267 On the sepulcral tablets of the fourth Dynasty and on the sarcophagus of king Mykerinos, one of the pyramid builders
(13) 268 we see copies of the front of 269 temples with Pylones, and Pilasters, which at 270 this time seem to be the principal adorning 271 member of architecture<;> the column was yet unknown. The 272 celebrated Lepsius has in a ...ly Essay 273 shown how the column has been developed 274 in Egypt from the pilaster, when long experience 275 has tought the egyptians that amongst 276 all geometrical figures the cylinder combines 277 the greatest mass in the smallest compass, 278 and therefore is most able to support 279 great weight without taking up to<o> much space. 280 We see this development of the column 281 especially in the sepulcral monuments of 282 Beni Hassan belonging to the XIIth dynasty<.> 283 The column as developed from the pilaster belongs to the end of the old empire<,>
7.
284 we read that it was extensively em- 285 ployed in the Labyrinth, the most 286 important building of the ... 287 Dynasty of the Amenemhets and Sesostrises (?). (14) 288 In well timbered countries, the column 289 proceeded from the wood building, the stem 290 was its origin, but Egypt was always 291 poor in timber, and therefore no great ... country, the architecture 292 was from the beginning a stone architecture 293 and the desire of getting the necessary 294 timber induced the Egytian Pharaohs as well 295 as the Ptolemies and again in our days Mohamed Ali to 296 want the possession of some parts of 297 Syria and explains the direction of their wars principally 298 towards the east.
Pyramids
299 The pyramids are the most ancient 300 buildings of Egypt which have lasted to our 301 days. They are the tombs of the Pharaohs of 302 the IVth Dynasty. They are gigantic not 303 only in conception but in execution, their 304 form is probably due to the 305 principle of tectonic which teaches us that 306 this form combines the greatest 307 stability with the most extensive height.
308 This massive solidity astonishes and 309 impresses the mind with grandness, 310 311 312. (15) We cannot overlook 313 here the justice of the artistic feeling 314 of the Pyramid builders, who gratified the 315 love of the Egyptians for the grand and 316 varied the monotonous plain 317 of the valley{,} by Pyramids<,> which even at a great 318 distance conveyed the idea of wealth 319 and power.
Reliefs
320 At this period we see on the sepulcral (sic) 321 tablets that the architecture prevailed over 322 sculpture, the reliefs are subordinate to the 323 architectonic ornaments; for instance in the 324 relief at the ... of the egyptian hall 325 in the British Museum. It is the monument 326 of Teta <,> an officer of the IVth Dynasty. The greatest 327 part of this relief is filled with 328 architectonic ornaments, and small space only 329 is left for the figured representations but 330 this shows already a high degree of artistical 331 development. The persons represented are
8.
Relief
332 men of a more noble type as on several 333 reliefs and statues of a later age, the eyelids 334 are modelled according <to> nature and 335 not with that typical frame{,} of the 336 later period which resembles to ribbons, and is prolonged 337 up to the temples <,> the ear is not so high as 338 in the IXth (16) Dynasty, the lips are not surrounded 339 by a line on relief, the hands and feet are 340 small. In a late period they grow larger 341 and Mr Birch (?), inquiringly remarks commenting 342 upon them, that this is probably the result 343 of intermingling with the negro race, among 344 whom the foot is always larger. - As to the 345 attitude and movement of the figures on 346 this relief we find it in the typical manner 347 which did not cease to characterize 348 egyptian reliefs up to the decline, and which 349 ... our taste. The 350 head, hand and feet are always represented 351 in profil, whilst the eye and the chest are 352 made in full view, the difficulty of face shortcomings 353 and the desire of the artist to show every part 354 of the body in its greatest development explains 355 this peculiarity to which we
356 find a parallel in the Metopes 357 of Selinuntam, and the features of the hieratic 358 style were never broken by the egyptian artist.
Isokephaleia
359 In regards the composition, we find that 360 the Egyptian did not treat sculpture in a 361 picturesque but ... architectural way, the figures are not crowded <,> 362 they succeed one another in that systematic order 363 which characterizes 364 egyptian life; and as the aim of the 365 figures in relief was to fill harmoniously a 366 certain space circumscribed by architectonic orna- 367 ments, we find here for the first time 368 what the Greeks called isokephaleia, 369 equal height of the heads of the figures, 370 without respect whether they are sitting 371 or standing < - > we find this peculiarity (?) still on the reliefs of ....(17)
Colored
All the reliefs of the old em-372 pire are colored, 373 not painted, 374 it was done only to raise them better 375 from the ground, not in order to produce 376 an artistical illusion.
9.
Bethmes statue(18)
377 As far as I know there is 378 (of the statues we possess) only one (statue preserved) (19) of this period, 379 that of Bethmes<,> an officer of state sitting on a stool and holding in his left hand a hoe<.> (20) 380 It is in the British Museum in one of its darkest rooms, I hope it will not remain there<,>
(21) it is 381 the earliest statue brought to Europe. It 382 looks more archaic than the contemporenous reliefs. Its 383 proportions are square and short<,> scarcely more 384 than 6 lengths (?) of the head, the chest<,> the 385 hand and feet are broad and heavy, the eyes 386 protruding<,> the forehead short, the nose 387 broad, the chin receding<,> a heavy whig covers the head. But the 388 oval of the face is pure, and the workman- 389 ship and polish in red granite is uncommonly clever 390 it shows that the artist had much practice 391 and know how to deal with the hard material. - 392 Such are the 393 earliest monuments of Egyptian art.
XII Dynasty
394, (22) 395 About four centuries elapsed between the 396 11th and the twelfth Dynasty of which again 397 we possess several interesting remains, 398 statues and reliefs. In this period the column 399 was developed in architecture, whilst in sculpture 400 the Egyptians attained the highest
401 degree of which their art 402 can boast.
Statues
The seated statue of ... in the British 403 Museum, though unfortunately mutilated<,> gives 404 us the highest idea of the development of 405 Egyptian sculpture, the proportions of the 406 body are noble and ...and the modelling done with feeling<,> 407 the artist knew evidently anatomy 408, he executed the ribs, the bones of 409 the arm<,> the hand<,> the leg and the 410 foot with remarkable precision and artistic 411 feeling<,> even the fingers and toes are not altogether 412 incorrect, though the articulation is marked 413 only by lines cut into the stone not by 414 chiselling (?), yet the principal form of the 415 toes is well executed, whilst in later 416 times the artists failed often in this respect. 417 Another seated statue of the same period, 418 that of Amenemha<t> in the Br. M. (23) is well executed but 419 inferior to that of ..., the proportions (24) 420 are more heavy, the ears sit to<o> high on 421 the head, and the shoulders are also to<o> high 422 but the face is of pure and noble cast, the lips are wellformed, the eyes less protruding, the nose longer we see 423 a decided progress from the times of the Pyramidbuilders. The features have no expression and individuality at all.
10.
424 The Egyptians were thorough Gentlemen<,> they 425 knew that the subduing of every emotion 426 and an earnest indifference towards every thing belong <to> 427 good society, their statues therefore look as dignified and 428 impallible (?), and as ... as the features we 429 meet in fashionable drawing rooms. -
Hyksos
430 The irruption of the nomad Hyksos 431 interfered with the healthy development of 432 art, during the centuries of their rule 433 it lingered only, the spirit of the nation 434 was broken, no temples were built<,> scarcely 435 any statues sculptured.
XVIII Dynasty
But with the 436 XVIII dynasty<,> with the restoration of political 437 life the arts begin also to revive, temples 438 were built more splendid than any of 439 the old empire, and innumerable sculptures 440 abound Egypt. The principal feature 441 of the architecture was in this period the column, but 442 it was not applied outside of the buildings 443 as we saw it in the sepulcres of Beni 444 Hassan and later again with the Greeks<,>
445 but inside of the temples.
Egyptian temple
There were 446 several reasons for the alteration. Artistically 447 the Egyptians did not like 448 to interrupt the grand planes of their 449 buildings by columns, though this would scarcely 450 be a sufficient reason, as art had to subordinate 451 itself to higher views, and requirements. But 452 we know that the greek and the egyptian 453 worship was very different, it was only 454 the priest who had access to the altar with 455 the Greeks, whilst in Egypt great masses of 456 people were required to their religious evenings 457 not only for the processions, but also to 458 listen to the sermon which was delivered to 459 them and which according to the old insti- 460 tutions the Pharaoh too had daily to 461 attend,
Covered space
the egyptian temple therefore<,> like a 462 Christian church<,> required a large covered 463 space for the community, and as the art 464 of making arches seems not to have been 465 popular in Egypt, the ceiling consisted of heavy flat ... mounted (?)... and had to be 466 supported by many columns. Shelter brim (?) was claimed in the same time, that is to 467 say a cool shadowy recess under a sun which is nearly tropical.
11.
468 The egyptian temple therefore in the XVIIIth Dynasty 469 presents us from the outside large masses of 470 masonry unbroken by columns, the members 471 grand in their proportions whilst 472 inside we see a forest of columns. Everywhere 473 we behold the character of massivity and this massivity 474 is not fictitious it is a real one, the building 475 consits of immense blocks, 476, 477 (25) of stone which even by their weight convey the idea 478 of power. Functional architecture aimed 479 at the same effect of massive grandeur but with the most ingenious 480 husbanding of many, the apparent massivity is ... 481 by putting together innumerable rich detail 482 light in itself, but grand by its subserving (?) 483 to the effect of the whole. The Egyptian architect was 484 not satisfied by giving the greatest possible 485 importance to the principal body of the (greek architecture) (26) 486 building, he put up before it gigantic pilones in the shape of truncated pyramids, pairs <of> 487 obelisks, and of coloumns, and double rows of immense 488 sphynxes and rams which form a 489 magnificent avenue to the temple.
490 Sculpture becomes entirely subservient 491 to architecture. We scarcely find any
Statues subservient to architecture
492 colossus in that period 493 sculptured independently from architectonic 494 aims, and therefore they are nearly always found in pairs, often they lean on the columns and 495 even where they seem to be detached, we see 496 the plinth, sculptured on their 497 back which shows that they were 498 only ornamental members of the sacred 499 temple architecture. This subserving 500 of sculpture to architecture prevented the 501 artist to give more movement to the 502 statues.
6 types
No new type was added during 503 the new empire to the six at<t>itudes of statues 504 which were handed down from the dynasties 505 of old. We see all the figures either calmly 506 seated and on the throne, or standing, 507 or stepping forward with the left foot, or 508 crouching on the ground, or kneeling 509 and holding a small shrine between their 510 knees, the sixth representation is that of 511 the ... body, which shows only the 512 elaborate face and the hands but not the limbs of the 513 person in whose honour the statue 514 was erected. - This want of variety in the positions<,>
12.
no individuality
515 this complete absence of movement, and of expression gives us the idea 516 that egyptian sculpture was poor, and we scarcely 517 notice the progress and the decline of an 518 art, which for centuries always 519 represented the same attitudes in 520 the great colossuses, the general forms resemble one another in all their stone statues, it is the detail which is varying - but if we look to 521 the smaller representations for instance in bronze we see 522 there that the artists allowed themselves 523 more freedom, though even here the features 524 are without individuality and without expression.
Portrait
525 When we hear therefore of portraits of 526 Egyptian kings, we must accept it with 527 some allowance. The egyptian sculptor 528 seized some characteristic feature 529 of the king but he idealized it as far 530 as possible, and established the type of the 531 souvereign without altering it more. The great Ramesses for instance 532 sat on the throne of the Pharaohs for more than half a century, yet 533 in his statues you never find a trace of 534 his increasing years, just in the same way 535 as the youthful portrait of Emperor Francis 536 of 1792 was retained on the day of his 537 wins (?) up to 1830 (27) without any alteration.
537 538 (28)
Grandeur
538 The general character of Egytian art under the XIIth Dynasty was elegance under 539 the XVIII (?) and XIXth it was grandeur, both material 540 and artistical. Colossuses adorned the temples and 541 their columns, and the smaller statuettes of bronze 542 too aim at the same grandeur, the sculptor 543 attained it by avoiding to inscribe the 544 figures with all the smaller details, he moulded 545 the principal forms correctly, and filled them 546 just only with the most salient muscles (?). 547 Sometimes he succeeded in this way most admirably because the human eye <-> unable 548 to notice more than the 549 principal features in colossuses, too remote 550 for minute investigation <->, is accostumed 551 to see colossality even in small figures 552 where the elaborate detail does not invite 553 a close inspection, and where the 554 most salient features are pretty correctly done.
Defects
555 But though the new empire surpassed 556 the old one in grandeur, it is 557 inferior in correctness, and artistical feeling. 558 The eyes of the statues are generally 559 formed in an unnatural 560 way, the eyelids being prolongated in the shape
13.
561 of a straight line in recline up to 562 the temples, the ears are placed 563 at the height not of the nose, but 564 of the forehead, the articulation of the 565 fingers and toes is entirely false, the ribs where they appear are incorrectly indicated, it is 566 evident that the artists of this period 567 did not study nature 568 but copy the monuments of art of the 569 preceding epoch, they clang to dead artistic tradition 570 and ignored the life which 571 surrounded them. The dry manner in which the statue of king Sethi Merenp<h>tah (29) in the British Museum is manufactured gives us the best proof of this assertion. We see the same fault in the time of the later Bolognese school of painters, and in the sculpture of Bernini
(30) and his successors (31). In one only detail the Egyptians of the Ramesses period 572 altered the old type. They formed 573 the statues more slender.
Canon
The ancients 574 assertion is that the Egyptians, and later also 575 the greeks had a certain law of proportion 576 according which they sculptured their figures. 577 They were divided into equal parts according 578 to a Canon, or standard figure, several of 579 these divisions are yet seen on some ancient 580 relics, and in the Collection ... we have 581 a most complete canon of the body 582 with all the different dimensions marked 583 on it. But this highly interesting statuette
584 belongs to the later Ptolemaic 585 period. In the time of the old empire 586 the figures were sculptured as 587 amounting to 19 units, in the new 588 empire, they were 20 units high, under 589 the Ptolemies 21 units, whilst the breadth 590 of the shoulders remained the same as 591 6 units and the waist 2 � unit (sic). The figures 592 therefore get always more slender and less heavy 593 <in> the course of centuries.
National types
594 It would be unjust towards the 595 egyptian artists of this period did we 596 not notice with well-zenited praise their 597 succesful efforts of representing the 598 different national types of the foreigners 599 with whom the Egyptian 600 Emperors were at war. We recognize 601 immediately the Negro with his thick 602 lips and small nose and reaching forehead, 603 the noble Assyrian with the long nose 604 and the elegantly trimmed beard, the 605 Jew with his characteristic features which
14.
606 remained the same up to the 607 present date, and resemble to the representation 608 on the triumphal relief of king Sheshonk of the 22 Dynasty, 609 the Shishak of the Bible. A cursory glance 610 must convince us that the Rottschilds of today 611 belong to the same race as king Rehaboam
(32) 612 whose typical figure is represented on the 613 egyptian relief. - Even of the intermediate form 614 of the ... we find some traces in 615 the egyptian sculptures<:> king ... (33) 616 the son of ... the ... of ... 617 has the thick lips of his mother. (34)
618 The political decline of the Egyptian empire 619 after the XIXth Dynasty Ramesses the IVth (35) is easily to be 620 traced in the monuments. They are scarce 621 in that period. The degenerate kings did 622 not erect new buildings, they had no 623 triumphs to record. Sheshonk 624 is again a great king, and immediately 625 we find also statues of him. But the 626 national exertions of the XXVIth Dynasty
XXVI
627 could not remain without influence on art. 628 Under the Psammetics, Apries, and Amasis we 629 see again a new school of sculpture 630 rising in Egypt. It is different from the grand 631 style of the XVIII Dynasty, it is an attempt 632 to imitate nature, though the features of the 633 type remain unbroken. The artist has 634 not the courage to give more movement 635 to the statues, but he forms them 636 rounder, and more fleshy, some of them remind 637 us that they are the prototypes for the 638 Greeks, who at that time, the time of ... of ..., of king Polycrates, of the ... ... begin to 639 get a national art, in others the 640 artist evidently overshot the mark (?), and formed 641 such figures as the kneeling priest and 642 the Nile in the British Museum, which 643 resemble in their fat forms to the Libyan (?) 644 of a much later age. -
645 The foreign domination of the Persians 646 was not favourable for art, public buildings 647 are seldom extracted (?) in provinces, dynasties 648 are inclined to concentrate art in their capitals.
15.
Ptolemies
649 But as soon as Egypt got under the Ptolemies 650 again a national existence, art revived 651 and flourished once more.
652 The new rulers were Greeks and a considerable 653 portion of their subjects were also Greeks; they had settled in Egypt 654 from the time of Psammeticus and formed the cast of interpreters (?)<,> their number increased under 655 Alexander the Great, who founded the 656 the (sic) Greek colony of Alexandria 657 north of the Nile. But the Ptolemies were 658 good statesmen, and not ... in their ..., they did not aim at a centralized unitary empire like 659 the syrian Seleucides who enforced 660 greek laws and institutions and religion in 661 their realm. The ... as you are aware followed the example of Antiochus the great, you know the result. (36) The Ptolemies never attempted 662 to force greek institutions on the Egyptians. As often as they resided in Thebes 663 they attended the old egyptian worship 664 they confirmed the old privileges of 665 the priests<,> they restored 666 the old temples<,> they erected new sanctuaries, 667 they were national Pharaos. But in Alexandria 668 again they were Greeks celebrating with 669 royal, with oriental pomp the feast of 670 Sokaris or of Bacchus, surrounding themselves
671 by greek scholars and treasuring ... the 672 volumes which contained greek miracles (?) 673 poetry and oratory. In Thebes, egyptian ... 674 of the old school<,> represented there on the walls of the temples<,> is 675 the costume of the Pharaos of 676 old (?) with the crown of upper and lower 677 Egypt on their head, with the royal 678 apron round their waist, as to the facial 679 ..., their features without expression 680 most resembling their portraits 681 of their greek coins. In Alexandria 682 the scholars of Lysippus and Pyrgokles 683 and Apellas embellished the representations of 684 the same kings with all the charms of 685 Greek art. 686, 687 (37) Two different religions, two different 688 literatures, and two different styles of art 689 flourished at the same time at 690 the court of the Ptolemies, 691 who thought themselves rich 692 enough to worship both the Gods 693 of Greece and the Gods of Egypt. -
16.
Greek influence
694 But the continuous intercourse between the 695 Greeks and Egyptians could not remain 696 without some influence on the Egyptians 697 though toughness and conservation were 698 so marked features of their character. 699 The Ptolemies introduced a new god into the Pha- 700 raonic religion, Aesculapius (38), under the 701 the (sic) name of Inonth (39)(?) , just as 702 the<y> introduced into the Greek mythology 703 the new Gods Isis and Serapis. -
704 The egyptian art became more 705 elegant under them, but it lost in 706 grandeur, and in the industrious patient 707 workmanship; the reliefs on the tablets of this period 708 are spirited, but sometimes negligently 709 carved in the accessory and ornamental 710 details, Greek superficial elegance 711 got the upper hand over Egyptian enduring severity 712.
Yet on the whole the period of the Ptolemies 713 is a great period of art for 714 Egypt.
715 The Romans extended at last their domi- 716 nion over Egypt, which had to provide the eternal city 717 with bread to .... The first Emperors 718 Augustus and Tiberius maintained the policy 719 of the Ptolemies, they restored the old 720 temples built even new ones, but they 721 did not reside in Egypt, it was a 722 province of Rome, and sank gradually with 723 all the others into provincial insignificance. 724 Emperor Hadrian this great dilettante 725 and ... liked Egyptian art, but in- 726 stead of cultivating it in Egypt he 727 introduced it in Rome, of course modified 728 according to the imperial taste of his age. 729 He, too, added one new God to the 730 Egyptian Pantheon his beloved friend 731 Antiochus, but this last branch engrafted 732 on the old pharaonic stem had no 733 vitality whatever, and died away with the 734 Emperor. After him the sepulcral tablet<s> 735 get always coarser, until they become 736 entirely barbarous, neither egyptian nor roman in character.
17.
Reliefs
En creux
737 The Egyptian reliefs were always more subservient 738 to architectural purposes than the statues. 739 The principal aim was to fill and to give life 740 <to> the great planes in the temples which remained un... 741 by architectural designs, and on sepulcral tablets to perpetuate the 742 memory of the deceased. 743 On the sepulcral tablets of the old empire 744 before the invasion of the Hyksos we 745 find very few Gods. 746 The sacrifice to the ancestors is the 747 most frequent subject. They are 748 represented sitting before a small 749 altar, on which the descendants depose 750 their oblations. This scene is nearly always 751 in an architectural frame 752 representing a small sanctuary. The relief 753 is very low, and commonly excented 754 as the French call it en creux , that 755 is to say the outlines of the figures 756 were first engraved in to (sic) the stone 757 and then the relief rounded from the cavity formed in this way up to the general level 758 of the slab.
759 Besides those ancestral admirations
760 we find on the reliefs of the old empire 761 often representations of domestic life with 762 much more freedom and movement then on the 763 sepulcral tablets. 764
(40)
765 In the new empire the worship of the 766 ancestors seems to have been out of fashion, 767 the sepulcral tablet contains the representa- 768 tions of Gods, adored by the deceased. 769 The architectural decorations become always 770 scarcer, they are not more the representation 771 of a sanctuary, but only the traditional 772 frame of the tablet.
temples
773 In the temples we see long processions 774 of Gods whether Pharao is offering to 775 them frankincense, or they are represented 776 investing the king with his royal 777 dignity, and with the emblems of life 778 and power, or he is introduced amongst 779 them and received by them as their equal. 780 Even Cleopatra becomes an Isis or a Maath, 781 Amenophis and Ramesses (?) (41) are often represented, as 782 Amon Ra, the Creator, or as Horus
18.
783 the avenger of his father. The reliefs grow in the later periods 784 always larger in extension, but they 785 are less artistical than before, and often 786 entirely manufactural, without regard of 787 the subject - We meet even figures which have 788 two right or two left hands, yet in the monuments 789 the old hieratic type is always maintained.
790 The artists allowed themselves more freedom 791 in the historical reliefs which we 792 often find in the new empire, the 793 battles and conquests of the conqueror kings 794 were to be recorded, and as no similar 795 representations existed in the old empire 796 the sculptor had its (sic) own way. But 797 the spirit of opposition nearly always 798 carried the artists away to<o> far to 799 the other side, exag<g>erated positions, and construc- 800 ted figures were drawn instead of the 801 dignified attitude of the slowly advancing religious pro- 802 cessions, - confused masses of figures, instead 828 of the solemn order of the sacred representations. 803 The artists broke through the features (?) of the type but they lacked
19.
804 the artistic taste, which would have regulated 805 their exertions, and yet more they did not study 806 nature, and therefore could not attain any 807 considerable degree of perfection in those 808 representations. They gave up in some 809 degree the plastical principle, and aimed 810 at a picturesque effect, but unable to 811 subordinate the accessories to the principal 812 subject, as medieval 813 sculpture did, or to divide the general 814 action into many smaller details, following 815 one another in a long row, without intro- 816 ducing too many figures in one and the 817 same particular composition as the 818 Greeks did, the historical relief of the 819 Egyptians was a failure in artistical 820 respect. They began also to introduce 821 the landscape into their representations<:> 822 rivers and buildings and trees, 823 but fully ignorant of the laws of the 824 perspective and of foreshortenings, 825 they could not deal with this new ... 826 introduced into sculpture, it only
827 augmented the confusion of the historical 828 representations.
829 As to picture, we see in Egypt but only 830 the first rudiments of that art, so rough 831 that (42) 832 we wonder how the glorious art of Raphael 833 and Correggio and Rubens and Rembrandt could 834 remain 835 in such rude a state while the sculpture of statues 836 had advanced so considerably.
837 The paintings are in the beginning 838 nothing else than the dying of the 839 sculptured reliefs, in order to make them 840 better apparent. Later it is an outline 841 drawing filled with colours, but without 842 any regard for 843 the general effects of 844 light or of harmony and 845, 846, (43) 847 of a picturesque composition, of (44)
20.
848 the result of a pleasing combination of colours 849 they had some idea. - But the drawing is 850 generally correct, for instance that of the horses or oxen on the frescoes in the houses.
851 Such is the art of Egypt. Her archi- 852 tecture is grand and varied and impresses us 853 with awe and admiration, her statues 854 are severe, and monotonous, because without 855 movement, but the student of art cannot 856 fail to see in them the first origin and 857 the healthy seed of the glorious plastic 858 of Greece. Her reliefs are subordinate 859 to architecture, and in many respects 860 only a pair (?) of additional hieroglyphics, 861 representing the very scenes which 862 are recorded by 863 the inscription; her painting<s> 864 are but the first beginnings of that 865 noble art.
866 Yet with all the artistical defects 867 which we mentioned, there is something 868 captivating and charming in Egyptian 869 antiquity not only because scriptural
Egypt
Last modified: 2012-01-25 00:12:14
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