Through the Eras

Visual Artsline that parallels her eyebrow. Her mouth, outlined inred, is square at the corner rather than round. Her eartilts at an odd angle, also a Middle Kingdom characteristic.Yet her eye is quite elongated, as is her mouth.These characteristics make it more similar to earlyEighteenth-dynasty paintings. Yet the dependence onthe earlier models is clear.LATER EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY PAINTING. By thereign of Thutmose IV (1400–1390 B.C.E.) painting stylehad changed and new subjects were introduced. By thispoint Egyptian artists knew the work of Middle Easternand Minoan Greek artists from increased trade contactsfollowing the wars of Thutmose III. The drawing is nowmore fluid than the stiff and slightly archaic drawingfound in the early New Kingdom. Artists began to expandthe color palette to include more colors. The differencefrom the earlier Eighteenth Dynasty is clear inthe depiction of female musicians. The musicians in thetomb of Rekhmire from the reign of Thutmose III arefully clothed. The artist made no attempt at depictingmovement. In contrast the musicians in the tombsNebamun play for two nude dancing girls. The dancersstrike exotic poses reaching into the air and bending atthe waist. Their feet hover in the air as they dance to themusic. Artists also attempted to use more impressionisticbrush strokes rather than flat areas of color as theyhad previously. The more lively drawing and additionalcolors applied in a rapid way create a noticeable changein painting style.AMENHOTEP III. By the time that Amenhotep IIIascended the throne in 1390 B.C.E., his immediate ancestorshad extended Egypt’s borders into Iraq and souththrough Sudan. The country was richer than ever beforebecause of the expanded tax base. The art created inAmenhotep III’s time reflects a much richer and morepeaceful society than the art of the early EighteenthDynasty. More statues of Amenhotep III survive fromancient times than any other king of the Eighteenth Dynasty.They range in size from the Colossoi of Memnon,over sixty feet tall, to an exquisite wooden statuette onlyten inches high. The large preserved production fromthis reign means that there are statues in many differentstones. They include red and black granite, quartzite,limestone, and sandstone. The art historian Betsy Bryandifferentiated a number of different styles of portrayingAmenhotep III’s face that are related to the material. Forexample, quartzite is a very hard stone that takes a highpolish. In a quartzite statue of Amenhotep III, the artistused different degrees of polish as a technique to differentiatedifferent textures in the crown, the skin, and thehair. The eyebrows are fairly rough in comparison to thePair statue of Nebsen and Nebet-ta. BROOKLYN MUSEUM OFART, 40.523, CHARLES EDWIN WILBOUR FUND. REPRODUCED BY PER-MISSION.skin near the eye. This skin is very highly polished toindicate the smoothness of this skin. The cheeks, wherethe king would have had a beard, are rougher than theskin near the eye, but not so rough as the eyebrows.These contrasts indicate a sophistication about workingthe stone that did not exist in previous reigns. Artistsalso exploited differences in the degree of polish in granitestatues that they could also polish to a high shine.BODY TYPES. Statues of Amenhotep III also displaya variety of body types. Some statues portray the traditionalathletic royal body that emphasizes the king’s roleas Egypt’s protector. Other statues, such as statuettesmade from wood, might represent an older king. Hisbody is fleshy and slack. His pectoral muscles sag, almostresembling female breasts. His belly is rounded andpuffy. This representation of a royal body might symbolizethe king’s wealth. But some scholars understandArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 299