I have been so interested in the Ancient Egyptian way of art since we began the chapter in the book! The people's dedication to religion and their structured way of life is very intriguing. This is a piece from the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Although we learned about the Book of the dead in our textbooks, we studied a different part of it. In this picture, Hunefer's mummy is undergoing the "opening of the mouth" ritual in front of a funerary stela and a chapel. Three priests to the left are about to open his mouth so that he can speak, eat and drink in the afterlife. There are two mourning women in front of the mummy, and another priest wearing the mask of Anubis is holding the mummy. In this piece I see the gender differentiation with the women having lighter colored skin and the men having darker skin. Also, inside of the funerary stela, there are registers of hieroglyphs that tell a story. It is also seen that all of the men in this picture are portrayed as powerful or royal because of their royal stance.
I think this piece of are was a great choice. It is a very nice picture that has a story behind it.
ReplyDeleteI'm noticing in the stele a figure that seems to be donning the Hedjet of Upper Egypt. I'm thinking that that figure may very well be Osiris, considering this is part of a story where Hunefer goes to the Afterlife and Osiris is portrayed with that crown last I checked. It could just be me though, but it is a nice detail nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI just find this so intriguing with the whole mummification process. They take so much care of the body after death. I am just wondering if there would be a reason why they don't lay him down instead of keeping him upright? I notice there is no cartouches in the background which I would have thought there would be with Hunefer being the many subject in the picture.
ReplyDeleteI really like the leopard skin the man at the far end is wearing
ReplyDeleteI notice that the way figures and writing are rendered is quite different when it's being done on papyrus as opposed to stone. The strokes on the figures are more smooth and simplified, and the writing is more "squiggly"
Often at the opening of the mouth ceremony a coin was placed on the deceased lips to symbolize what he would need to pay the ferryman to cross the river Styx. It is interesting how the artist used the negative space in the painting and fit the hieroglyphs into that space following the lines of the figures.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good figurative piece that you chose. I can see what you have mentioned about it through your own description here. What I really like about this is that it gives a lot of differences, but I can really pick out the textures showing the males being portrayed in a darker tone color, similar to a tan, while the females are in a lighter tone, more so white.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the colors in this piece, it's in extremely good condition for its age. The richness of the blue in Hunefer's and Anubis's headdresses really draws my eye and creates a focal point. I also really like the detail put into the leopard skin draped across the man.
ReplyDelete