A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2 (of 2)Perrot, Georges
History
A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Perrot, Georges
Art -- Egypt -- History; Egypt -- Antiquities
The same remarks may be applied to those objects, or rather
appearances, to which the triglyphs of the Doric order have been
referred. It is true that in the figured architecture of the
bas-reliefs many of the architraves seem to show vertical incisions
arranged in groups of three, each group being separated from the next
by a square space which recalls the Greek metope (Figs. 62-64). But
sometimes these stripes follow each other at regular intervals,
sometimes they are in pairs, and sometimes they are altogether absent,
the architrave being either plain or decorated with figures and
inscriptions. Where the stripes are present they represent sometimes
applied ornaments, sometimes the ends of transverse joists appearing
between the beams of the architrave. Similar ornaments surround the
paintings in the tombs, and are to be found upon the articles of
furniture, such as chairs, which form part of most Egyptian museums.
Neither these so-called triglyphs and metopes, which do slightly
resemble the details so named of the Doric order, nor the egg
moulding, which is a pure delusion, ever received that established
form and elemental character which alone gives such things importance.
Architecture--stone architecture--made no use of them, and the
analogies which some have endeavoured to establish are misleading. The
apparent coincidence resulted from the nature of the material and from
the limited number of combinations which it allowed.
§ 8. _Doors and Windows._
So far we have been concerned with the structure and shape of Egyptian
buildings; we have now to describe the openings pierced in their
substance for the admission of light, for the circulation of their
inhabitants and for the entrance of visitors from without. The doors
and windows of the Egyptians were peculiar in many ways and deserve to
be carefully described.
DOORS.
The plans of Egyptian doorways do not always show the same
arrangements. The embrasure of which we moderns make use is seldom met
with. It occurs in the peripteral temple at Elephantiné, but that is
quite an exception (Fig. 141). The doorways of the temples were
generally planned as in Fig. 142, and in the passage which traverses
the thickness of the pylons, there is in the middle an enlargement
forming a kind of chamber into which, no doubt, double doors fell back
on either side (Fig. 143).
In their elevations doorways show still greater variety.
Let us consider in the first place those by which access was gained to
the _temenos_, or outer inclosure, of the temple. They may be divided
into three classes.
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