-Write a formal analysis of the object you have chosen. Provide a detailed description of the *tram!" qualities of the art object (formal here means "related to the form," not "fancy"). in other words, you're looking at the individual design elements, such as composition (arrangement of Parts of or in the work), color, line, texture, scale, proportion, balance, contrast. rhythm, etc. Your primary concern in this assignment is to attempt to explain how the artist arranges and uses these various elements and the effect they may produce i.e.
severe, calm, dynamic.
In writting a formal analysis, focus on creating a logical order so that your reader doesn't get lost. Don't ever assume that because your reader has seen the work, s/he knows what you are talking about. Here are some suggestions for structuring your paper:
. Introduce the work by stating its full caption information (artist/maker if known, title, date/period, culture/location, medium, approximate size if known)
o Summarize the object's overall appearance, then describe its details
o Describe the composition and then move on to a description of the materials used (marble, diorite, pigment on plaster, etc.)
o Begin discussing one side of the work and then move across the object to the other side describe things in the order in which they draw your eye around the object, starting with the first thing you notice and moving to the next
o Remember to use descriptive and precise language as you write i.e. provide the specific location of the area you're analyzing
• Devote one paragraph at the end of your paper comparing the object you've chosen to a work we've observed in our class. Make sure to examine both similarities and differences.
Material: Limestone Provenance: Giza
Nedjemu ("sweet one") illustrates several aspects of Egyptian funerary sculpture which remained typical for almost 3000 years. His body indicates the use of the canon of proportion within an eighteen-square grid. His rigid posture and the quiet expression on his face reflect the Egyptian desire to represent the deceased in a manner appropriate for eternity.
Nedjemu wears a wrap-around kilt which would have been made of unbleached linen, a product of flax. (Cotton textiles in Egypt date no earlier than the third century B.C.E.) He holds two small pegs in his hands, probably abbreviated scepters as symbols of public office. His wig would have been made of human hair if he could afford it. However, cheaper wigs of sheep or goat hair were also available. Traces of reddish-brown paint on his legs illustrate the skin color associated most frequently with men. The left foot strides forward, the traditional pose for male statues. This stance suggests movement and strength.
This little statuette may have been an "off-the-shelf" purchase after Nedjemu's death. The inscribed hieroglyphs on the base tell us that it was acquired for Nedjemu's tomb by his son.
MENTUEMHET In addition to serving as mayor, Mentuemhet was the Fourth Prophet (priest) of Amen, and according to the inscriptions on works he commissioned, he was responsible for restoring the temples the Assyrians had razed. He placed portrait statues of himself in those temples and also in the tomb he con-structed in a prominent place in the Theban necropolis. More than a dozen of his portraits survive, including the somewhat under life-size granite statue illustrated here (nn. 3-38).
Mentuemhet's portrait statues exemplify Egyptian sculpture at about the time the Greeks fult encountered the art of the Nile region .The pose is traditional, as is his costume of kilt and wig, but the face, with its frank portrayal of the mayor's advanced age, is much more realistic than most earlier represen-tations of elite men. In fact, almost all of Mentuemhet's portraits have idealized features. This one is an exception, but even here the.
3-11B Sculptor at work, Thebes. ca. 1425 wt.
produce the statue, the artist first drew the front, back, and two profile views of the pha-raoh on the four vertical faces of the stone block. Next, apprentices chiseled away the excess stone on each side, working inward until the planes met at right angles. Finally, the master sculpted the parts of Khafre's body, the falcon, and so forth. The polished surface was achieved by abrasion (rubbing or grinding). This subtractive method of
64 Chapter 3 EGYPT UNDER THE PHARAOHS
MENKAURE AND KHAMERERNEBTY The seated statue is one of only a small number of basic formulaic types Old Kingdom sculptors employed to represent the human figure. An-other is the image of a person or deity standing, either alone or in a group, for example the double portrait (rm. 3-12) of Menkaure and one of his wives, probably the queen Khamerernebty. The statue once stood in the valley temple of Menkaure's pyramid com-plex at Gizeh. Here, too, the figures remain wedded to the stone
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3-12 Menkaure and Khamerernebty(?), from Club, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, ca. 2490-2472 BCE. Graywacke, 4' 61" high. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Sr
3-13 Seated scribe, from Saqqara, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, ca. 2500 BCE. Painted limestone, I' high. Muste du Louvre, Paris. The idealism that characterizes the portraiture of the Egyptian god-kings did not extend to the portrayal of nonellte individuals. This more realistic painted depiction of a scribe shows clear signs of jng.
SEATED SCRIBE Traces of paint remain on the portraits of Menkaure and Khamerernebty. Egyptian artists painted most of their statues, although sometimes sculptors left the natural color of the stone exposed, enhancing the sense of abstraction and timeless-ness. Striking examples of painted sculpture are the seated statues of Rahotep and Nofret (FIG. 3-11A) and the statue found at Saqqara.
