Egypt is a mysterious country that attracts many with its historical and cultural heritage. In addition to the magnificent pyramids and papyri, the culture of Ancient Egypt is also well characterized by the murals on the walls, which told researchers about almost all aspects of the life of the Egyptians. If you want to know more about this country, then you just need to study what painting in ancient Egypt is. Let's get it right.
Reliefs and murals of Ancient Egypt
Surely everyone has a general idea of the reliefs of Egypt. And this is not surprising, because what is painting in ancient Egypt? In fact, it was a strictly defined picture. So, all people were portrayed here strictly face, arms and legs in profile, and the body in front. Such an image, according to the Egyptians, most accurately allowed to transmit the proportions and characteristics of the human body. First of all, the reliefs belonged to the spiritual life of society, which allowed us to keep the canons unchanged for almost 2.5 millennia.
The highest peak of the heyday of this art occurred in Egypt in the 14th century BC. For thousands of years, Egyptians have been honing image skills, which ultimately allowed them to create the most accurate and clear lines and repeating images.
What murals depicted
The most common image in ancient Egypt is the afterlife. However, along with them, you can find drawings that helped researchers learn more about the life of the ancient Egyptians. So, in temples and buildings you can see pictures of everyday life, such as, for example, harvesting, hunting, fishing, eating, worshiping the gods, rest of the nobility and other actions in full detail. One thing was invariable - the owner of the tomb was always present at the drawings and at least one of them was presented at a feast.
In order to emphasize the importance of this or that person, his image was enlarged in comparison with the others. Thus, the largest figures were the gods and pharaohs, the nobles - a little less, and the peasants were the smallest.
Where were painted
First of all, the murals were performed in tombs, which is why their main motive was the idea of the Egyptians about the afterlife. Such images were carried out in bright colors, such as, for example, in the tomb of the pharaohs and noble people, however, they could simply have been knocked out on the rocks of burials of the poorer sections of the population. At the same time, the surface of the tomb itself did not play a big role - whether it be sand blocks or the inside of the cave.
What is painting in Ancient Egypt is an art that, first of all, was not intended for the audience, because often real works of art are located in places where ordinary people were forbidden to access.
Also, murals of Ancient Egypt were made in temples dedicated to various gods. In this case, they were already talking about myths, legends and ideas of the Egyptians about this or that deity.
How the Egyptians made murals
In order to understand what painting is in ancient Egypt, you need to find out how they were made. Initially, the Egyptians made indentations as the contours of the drawing, and then, if necessary, filled them with paints. Moreover, the paints used only natural and natural colors: red, yellow, green, blue and black. This was enough to express the author’s intentions. Moreover, the colors expressed not only this or that hue, but conveyed the very soul of the painted object. So, for example, green color served as the personification of good.
The production of the painting went in three stages: initial painting, cutting indentations and final painting. Oddly enough, some paintings have retained their color even to this day.