Through the Eras

Visual ArtsThree statues of Metjetji. BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, 50.77,51.1, 53.222, CHARLES EDWIN WILBOUR FUND. REPRODUCED BYPERMISSION.PORTRAYALS OF OFFICIALS. In addition to royalty,another large class of Egyptian sculpture portrays theofficials who ran both the secular and religious institutions.These men and women were often younger sonsand daughters of the royal family in the Fourth Dynasty,but later in the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties included selfmadecommoners who somehow developed a relationshipwith the king and thus rose in society. Egyptianartists developed a set of conventions for portraying theseofficials during the Old Kingdom. The standing statueof Ity-sen is an excellent example of the conventions fora standing statue of an official. Originally it was part ofa group of three figures. Ity-sen stands with both armsat his sides. His hands hold peg-like objects that mightrepresent offerings of cloth. His left leg strides forward,indicating that Ity-sen is walking forward to receive hisofferings. His upper body is youthful with careful modelingof the pectoral muscles and the clavicle. He wearsa simple kilt with a pleated apron. The muscles aroundthe knee are modeled as well as the bones of the knee.The overall effect is a youthful and vibrant man in theprime of life. This effect was the artist’s usual intention.Statues like this functioned as containers for the deceased’ssoul and allowed the deceased to continue lifeafter death eternally young.GROUP STATUE. A family group of statues which representsan official, possibly named Irukaptah, his wife, andson, illustrates Egyptian use of hieratic scale—size basedon importance—in three-dimensional sculpture. Irukaptahis a conventional standing male official roughly threetimes larger in scale than his wife and son. This differencein scale points to the Egyptian convention that the mainfigure of a group can be presented on a completely different,larger scale than the less important figures. Irukaptahwears a heavy but short wig. His facial features suggesta date in the Fifth Dynasty. His eyebrows are straight, andhis eyes are wide open. There is no cosmetic line. Thoughthe nose is damaged, it is still possible to see that the sculptorcarefully modeled the area where the nose met thecheeks. His mouth is set in a somber expression with carefullymodeled lips that end in a point. He has a strong,rounded chin. The upper body is carefully modeled witha clavicle, pectoral muscles, and a groove that runs throughthe center of the abdomen to the navel. The muscles ofthe shoulders and arms are also carefully modeled. Irukaptahwears a simple wraparound kilt with a pleated apron.His legs display careful modeling of the knees and themuscles surrounding them. His wife kneels at his left. Shewears a short wig that reveals some of her natural hair atthe forehead. She wears a tight dress that reveals her youthfulbreasts and also the pubic triangle. She crosses her leftarm over her abdomen and holds Irukaptah’s left calf withher left hand. Irukaptah’s son stands on his right. Theportrayal of the son follows Egyptian conventions for representinga child. His hair is gathered in a side lock thatcurls at the end. He holds his right hand up with his indexfinger pointing to his mouth. He is also nude. Theseconventions would have conveyed to the viewer that thesubject is a child, even though he is larger than his mother.Though the expected inscription was never carved on thisstatue, the conventions of scale, dress, and pose make iteasy to interpret.SECOND STYLE. Three wooden statues of Metjetjiillustrate both the conceptual nature of Egyptian sculptureand the emergence of a second style in Egyptian artin the later Old Kingdom. Though all three statues bearinscriptions identifying the subject as Metjetji, a high officialof the late Fifth or early Sixth Dynasty, the facialfeatures are not at all similar. Egyptian artists individualizeda statue by adding a person’s name in hieroglyphsto the base or on the statue itself. The facial characteristicsnormally resembled the king’s face, the living godon earth. With such a “portrait” an official could mergehis personality with that of the god and enter into theafterlife. Thus the three statues, though different in appearance,represent only the concept of the man Metjetji.286 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)