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
There is no less variety in those groups where the sculptor has been
charged to represent a whole family reunited in the tomb. Sometimes
the husband is sitting and the wife standing. She has her left arm
round his neck, the left hand resting on his left shoulder, while with
her right hand she holds his right arm (Fig. 88, Vol. I.). Sometimes a
father and mother are seated upon the same bench, but here too the
woman confesses her dependence on, and shows her confidence in, her
master by the same affectionate gesture (Fig. 186). Both are of the
same height, but between them, and leaning against the bench upon
which they are seated, appears their child, quite small. His gesture
is that to which the Egyptian artist has recourse when he wishes to
express early childhood (Fig. 187). We also find the husband and wife
standing erect in front of a slab; the relation which they bear to
each other is here also indicated by the position of the woman's arms
(Fig. 188).[197] Sometimes the woman is altogether absent (Fig. 89,
Vol. I.). The head of the family is placed by himself, on a raised
seat. In front of this seat, and hardly reaching to their father's
knees, are two children, boy and girl, the boy holding the right leg,
the girl the left. The boy has the lock of hair pendent over the right
ear, which, like the finger in the mouth, is a sign of tender years.
He is nude; the girl is dressed in an ornamental robe reaching to her
ankles. There is a piquant contrast between these two tender little
bodies with their childish heads, and the virile power of the father
and protector who towers so high above them.
[197] _Notice_, No. 793. These two people were called
Nefer-hotep and Tenteta. The latter is also described as
_related to Pharaoh_.
[Illustration: FIG. 184.--Wooden statue, Boulak. Drawn by Bourgoin.]
[Illustration: FIG. 185.--Statue in limestone, Boulak. Drawn by
Bourgoin.]
[Illustration: FIG. 186.--Limestone group in the Louvre. Height
twenty-eight inches. Drawn by Saint-Elme Gautier.]
[Illustration: FIG. 187.--Wooden statuette, Boulak. Drawn by
Bourgoin.]
[Illustration: FIG. 188.--Nefer-hotep and Tenteta. Boulak.]
These limestone groups do not, as a rule, appear to have been executed
with any great care. Their makers do not seem to have taken much pains
to give them an individuality of their own; but in spite of this
feebleness of execution, they please by their composition. They are
well arranged, their attitudes are simple and their gestures
expressive. As a whole they have an air of calmness and repose which
is thoroughly in accord with the ideas of the Egyptians on the
question of life and death.
[Illustration: FIG. 189.--Limestone statue, Boulak. Drawn by
Bourgoin.]
[Illustration: FIG. 190.--Limestone statue, Boulak. Drawn by
Bourgoin.]
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