What are the characteristics of ancient Egyptian murals?

Character characteristics of ancient Egyptian murals

Frontal method: it shows that the head, eyes, shoulders and waist of the character are front side;

Horizontal bar arrangement structure, divided by horizontal lines;

Arrange the proportion and composition position according to the character's inferiority;

Filling method, the picture is full, leaving no blank;

Color fixing procedure: male skin is brown, female skin is light brown or light yellow, hair is blue-black and eyes are black.

Overview of ancient Egyptian murals

Relief and murals are indispensable parts of Egyptian mausoleum decoration. The foundation of the ancient kingdom has been laid. They are stylized in their forms of expression. In many cases, there is no strict difference between the two, and it may be called a relief mural. Some artistic techniques have been continued, forming a unique and peculiar style of Egyptian art, which is characterized by: horizontal bar arrangement structure, dividing the picture with horizontal lines; Picture composition arranges people and things in a straight line, and figures define the image size according to their grades and distances, which is orderly and pursues the effect of plane arrangement; Pay attention to the narrative of the picture, with detailed content and implicit description; Stylization of character modeling, combination of realism and deformation decoration; Hieroglyphs are used with images. Always keep the readability of painting and the paintability of words.

The proverbs of Amon God say, "Egypt is a place irrigated by floods, and it is the Egyptians who live here and drink Egyptian water." Egypt is a gift from the Nile. It borders the Arabian Desert in the east, barren mountainous areas in the south, the Sahara Desert in the west and the Mediterranean Sea in the north. This is a completely closed oasis. Every June, when the red crane flies over this long and narrow valley, the Nile begins to flood, and the flood disappears in June165438+1October, leaving fertile soil. People reclaimed this land seven thousand years ago. Egypt is divided into two parts by the Nile, that is, Cairo is divided into two parts: the south is called Upper Egypt and the north is called Lower Egypt. Around 3200 BC, the sovereignty of Egypt belonged to two kings. They once fought for power and profit again and again, and as a result, Egypt condescended to be a minister, unified into an early dynasty, and Egyptian civilization gradually formed. From the third dynasty, it entered the ancient kingdom, followed by the middle kingdom, and then foreign countries usurped power. 18 dynasty tried to establish new kingdoms one by one, and Alexander finally conquered Egypt in 332 BC.

After Egypt entered the slave society, the king (Pharaoh) was the supreme leader of the slave owner class, and also the incarnation of the sun god and the Nile God. They were kings of the world when they were alive and rulers of the underworld after death. The Egyptian religious view is that after death, the soul just leaves the body and floats in the universe. If it returns to the body, it can be resurrected. Therefore, Egyptians preserved corpses as "mummies" and attached great importance to making coffins and building graves to pray for resurrection. Therefore, Egyptians attached great importance to protecting the bodies of pharaohs and slave owners and built tombs at any cost. This is the origin of the world-famous Egyptian pyramids. Because the rotting bodies prevented them from being resurrected, they thought of carving the images of kings and princesses with stones and preserving them. The king wanted to enjoy all the joys in the underworld, so he thought of painting everything on the tomb wall for enjoyment. In this way, the art of sculpture and painting in Egypt took place and developed.

Color application of ancient Egyptian murals

yellow

(called "khenet" in ancient Egypt) is the color of women's skin, such as women in Syria, Bedouin, Hittite and Libya on the Mediterranean Sea. If it is gold, yellow or the color of the rising sun represents perfection. Like green and blue, the Egyptians made a synthetic yellow pigment-lead antimony yellow. It is difficult to distinguish these pigments when watching ancient Egyptian artworks today: lead antimony yellow (yellowish white), lead white (extremely pale yellow, but it will deepen with time) and orpiment yellow (relatively strong yellow, but it will fade under direct light). Some historians believe that this has led to the exchange of yellow and white in existing murals. Realgar, which we now classify as orange yellow, was yellow at that time. (In fact, it was not until the Middle Ages that oranges spread from China to Europe that the word orange appeared. Until15th century, Florence painter Segnini still described it as yellow. ) Gold (the name of the "novice" in ancient Egypt) represents the body of God and is used for any object that is considered immortal. Although gold leaves can be used for sculpture, yellow and red and yellow can be used to depict the skin of gods, please note that some gods are also painted with blue, green or black skin.

red

(called "deshr" in ancient Egypt), representing chaos and disorder, comes from the color of desert (called "deshret" in ancient Egypt, red land), which is just the opposite of fertile black land. A major red pigment, red ochre (hematite), comes from the desert. Red is also the color of destructive fire and anger, which is used to represent dangerous things. Because of its connection with the desert, red has become the color of the traditional chaotic god Seth. Because the desert is a place of exile and hard labor in mines, red represents death. The desert is also considered as the place where the sun disappears every night and the entrance to hell. Represents chaos and is considered the reverse color of white. Is for death, which is regarded as the opposite of green and black. However, this ancient Egyptian color is regarded as the most powerful color, and it is also regarded as life and protection. It comes from blood and family fire and is widely used as amulets.

black

(Known as' Kem' in ancient Egypt), the color of Nile silt, whose name comes from' Kemet' after the Nile flood, means reproduction, rebirth and resurrection, which is brought about by agricultural activities every year. This is also the color of Osiris ("the black one"), the resurrected god of death, which is considered to be the color of the underground, where the sun is reborn every night. Black is often used in statues and coffins, symbolizing the rebirth of Osiris. Black is also used as the standard hair color to describe people of color from South Nubia and Cushitus.

white

(called "hedj" in ancient Egypt) is a pure, sacred, clean and concise color. Tools, sacred objects and even priests' sandals are all white. Sacred animals are also depicted as white. Clothes, usually just undyed linen, are usually painted white.

Silver is also called "hedj", but it is painted with precious metals, depicting the sun, moon and stars at dawn. Silver is a rare metal, which is more valuable than gold in ancient Egypt.

blue

(called' Irqiu' in ancient Egypt), it is the color of the sky, the divine right and the water, such as the annual flood. Ancient Egyptians liked lapis lazuli, lapis lazuli jewelry and inlays. In addition, their technology is advanced, producing the world's first synthetic pigment, which has been called Egyptian blue since the Middle Dynasty. According to the degree of modulation, its color can change from dark blue to light blue. Blue was used to depict God's hair (especially lapis lazuli, or dark Egyptian blue) and Amon's face, and later it was extended to Pharaoh related to him.

green

(called "wahdj" in ancient Egypt) is new growth, the color of vegetation, new life, and resurrection (together with black). The green hieroglyphics are the stems and leaves of papyrus. Green is the color of Horus's eyes, which has the power of treatment and protection, so this color also represents happiness. Doing "green things" means living in a positive and positive way. The word green also stands for mineral malachite. Like blue, the ancient Egyptians also made a green pigment-patina (ancient Egyptian name was Hess-byah)-in fact, copper or bronze rusted. Unfortunately, copper reacts with sulfides, such as yellow pigment orpiment, and turns black. Medieval artists used a special glaze on the top of the bronze rust to protect it. Turquoise from Sinai Peninsula (the name of mefkhat in ancient Egypt) is a kind of green and blue stone, which is particularly valued. It also represents happiness and the color of sunshine at dawn. Because Ms. Turquoise, the goddess of Hathor, is in charge of the fate of newborn babies, it is also considered as the color of commitment and prediction.