The Ancient Egyptian god of arts (Egyptian Artwork) and the patron of artisans were Ptah. The bits and pieces and fragments of works of art found during the quest for unearthing facts about Ancient Egypt is probably one of the major sources of information.

Egyptian Artwork

Egyptian Artwork can include paintings, sculptures, inscriptions on temple walls, etc. And for such art to withstand the test of time, skilled artisans would be necessary. The artisans of ancient Egypt had their own system of superiority and subordination. They were divided into, normal ones and those commissioned for work in the palaces or for the royalty.

However, there was no freedom of artistic expression and the craftsmen were forced to obey stringent rules of art and craft for more than thousand years. The artwork was normally carried out in workshops or, based on the subject of the art, on site, that is temples or tombs. They even formed or stayed in nearby villages where they were employed to work on tombs and temples, often for months or years at a time.

Beauty of the Egyptian Artwork

The ancient Egyptians looked for sturdiness and durability as well as beauty in their art, this is why so much of their work has survived to this day. They succeeded in creating art that was timeless. To achieve this, they used strong and lasting materials like granite, copper, bronze, and gold.

Their paintings and artwork were geometrically regular and their observance and capture of nature in the art forms was a feature of their work. Angles, planes, and geometry had utmost importance.

The artwork of Ancient Egyptians consisted of statues, pottery, jewellery, paintings, and all of them displayed similar characteristics as if made by applying the same formula, yielding comparable results. Innovation and originality were shunned, rather, creating almost exact replicas of previous masterpieces was the penultimate art.

Therefore, although the art remained beautiful and impassioned, there was nothing new in the offing for more than thousands of years. In lieu of exact depiction of a scene, symbols were used, whereas the paintings in the tombs were known to present the image of the afterlife.

Since, they were so diligent in preserving the dead and supplying them with all those things they may have a need for, in the afterlife, tombs were filled with pottery, palettes of cosmetics, weapons, figurines Ivory carving etc. Later, the practice of creating life size or gigantic statues and sculptures of the pharaohs and gods became very popular. These were made from limestone. Paintings were not the primary art form, the sculpture was.

The Amarna period saw a shift in style and art, leading to naturalism, wherein faithful rendition of any object was carried out. For example, the bust of Nefertiti in the Berlin Museum and the famous Tutenkhamen’s tomb was rich, fine and intricate. There was a move to go back to the prior somber method of art, but it did not have enough influence to sustain itself.