Through the Eras

Visual Arts1938–1759 Artists of the Twelfth Dynasty revive theMemphite style of the Old Kingdom.Block statues become a very popular wayof depicting high officials with a cube forthe body and only the head, hands, andfeet carved.Cloaked seated figures become a popularway of depicting officials.1539–1292 Artists re-plot the grid for composing figures,changing the proportions of humanfigures, making them longer and moreelegant. The reason for this change is notunderstood.1539–1425 Artists revive stylistic elements of theTwelfth Dynasty in an attempt to restoreand refer to the glory of this earlier time.Some paintings of this period are difficultto distinguish from Eleventh-dynasty work.1478–1458 Artists strive to adapt traditional forms torepresent the female king Hatshepsut.The high official Senenmut has at least 25statues and some of them provide innovationsused by later officials.Artists portray new historical subjects suchas the Expedition to Punt in Hatshepsut’stemple in Deir el Bahri.1390–1352 More statues of Amenhotep III survivethan there are for any other Eighteenthdynastyking. Amenhotep III is depictedwith innovative body types, not restrictedto the athlete-king.Officials are depicted living a more luxuriouslife than previously.1352–1336 Radical changes in style—including thedepiction of more expressions and emotions—arerelated to a change in Egyptianreligion.Portrayal of kings in this period are nearlyandrogynous. King Akhenaten and his wifeNefertiti are portrayed as nearly identical.Many examples of the royal daughtersexist. Some of them stress emotional tieswithin the family, unlike Egyptian art ofany other period.1332–1322 Art of the reign of Tutankhamun is welldocumentedbecause of the discovery ofhis unplundered tomb in 1922.1292–1075 Artists of the Ramesside Period revive someearly Eighteenth-dynasty styles, avoidingthe Amarna style used in the reign ofAkhenaten.1075–332 Art of the first millennium in Egypt reflectsrevival of older styles and an interestin copying older works. Egyptologistscall this tendency archaism.1075–656 Artists revive Eighteenth-dynasty subjectsand style in such detail that it issometimes difficult to recognize art ofthis later period called the Third IntermediatePeriod.760–656 Artists revise the grid for composing figuresusing twenty-one squares rather thaneighteen squares per figure as previously.This new system results in longer-waistedfigures than previously drawn.Artists copy and imitate many works ofthe Middle Kingdom.664–525 Egyptian artists copy and imitate the art ofthe Old Kingdom during the Saite period.525–404 Egyptian artists add details from Persianart while the Persians dominate Egypt.381–343 Artists rely on New Kingdom models duringthis last period of native rule beforemodern times.Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 265