PrimeLuck ArtsAncient Egyptian art
Ancient Egyptian art served religion and kingship. It followed a recognisable set of rules for about three thousand years, and it was made to help the dead and to honour the gods.
- Period
- Ancient civilizations
- Approximate dates
- c. 3100 BCE to 30 BCE
- Place of origin
- Nile Valley, Egypt
- Key regions
- Egypt and Nubia
- Art forms
- Tomb painting, relief, sculpture, architecture, jewellery, papyrus painting
- Major artists
- Imhotep (architect, traditional attribution); most artists are unnamed
Visual introduction
Great Sphinx of Giza
Unknown · c. 2500 BCE · Limestone · Giza, Egypt
A monumental royal figure carved from natural rock, showing how art and kingship were joined.
Image: Photo: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bust of Nefertiti
Thutmose (workshop attribution) · c. 1345 BCE · Limestone and stucco, painted · Neues Museum, Berlin
A rare naturalistic portrait from the Akhenaten period, found in a sculptor's workshop at Amarna.
Funerary mask of Tutankhamun
Unknown · c. 1323 BCE · Gold with glass and semi-precious stones · Egypt
Shows the skill of Egyptian metalwork and the belief that the mask would protect the king in the afterlife.
Image: Photo: Dawid Wdowczyk, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Historical context
Egyptian art grew around the Nile and the belief in an afterlife. Tombs and temples were decorated so that the dead would be provided for and the king's power would be remembered. Artists worked in organised workshops, and styles changed little over long periods, which is why Egyptian art is easy to recognise.
There were important exceptions. During the reign of Akhenaten, around 1350 BCE, art became more naturalistic for a short time. Egypt also traded and fought with Nubia to the south, and Nubian kingdoms such as Kush developed their own related traditions.
Visual characteristics
Line and form: strong, clean outlines and flat areas of colour. Figures follow a formula, with the head and legs in profile and the eye and shoulders seen from the front.
Scale and hierarchy: important people, such as kings and gods, are drawn larger than servants. Registers, or horizontal bands, organise scenes.
Materials: limestone, granite, gold, faience, wood and painted plaster, with mineral pigments chosen partly for symbolism, such as blue and green for life and rebirth.
Related movements
Sources and further reading
Further reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Tate, Art Terms. Smarthistory.