The Art of Akhenaten - Paper
The Art of Akhenaten A Formal Analysis of House Shrine and Akhenaten Making Offerings
The Art of Akhenaten A Formal Analysis of House Shrine and Akhenaten Making Offerings One of the most enigmatic pharaohs of Egyptian history, Amenhotep IV, had grown up in the most powerful family in ancient Egypt. Once he became pharaoh and ruler of Egypt’s empire in 1378 BCE, he changed his name to Akhenaten, “effective spirit of Aten”, and was known to the people as “the heretic king. Early in his reign, Akhenaten encouraged ideas by using art as a way of emphasizing his political and religious intentions of doing things differently; therefore, changing Egyptian society. This was true for the following reasons. Politically, when Akhenaten denounced the state deities, he altered the artistic style and technique of ancient Egypt, by the intimate settings and placements of him and his royal family. Religiously, the forced monotheistic religion was artistically stylized by having the new deity, Aten, as the main theme in his reliefs. These emphases were what came to be known as Amarna art, an erratic, sensual, new style of art that celebrated the vibrancy and movement of the real world during Akhenaten’s reign. Akhenaten’s famous two relief sculptures, House Shrine and Akhenaten Making Offerings, reflect the revolutionary changes in art and religion and therefore of politics during the reign of this monotheistic pharaoh. Akhenaten and his family were the only royal family that was intimately described by the king as displaying love and devotion under the protection of Aten. In House Shrine (figure 1), the limestone stele, depicts King Akhenaten and his “Holy Family” starring his wife Queen Nefertiti and his two daughters. It was intended to be stored in a private room in the Amarna palace. The stele is decorated with an intimate scene showing the daily life of the Holy
The Art of Akhenaten A Formal Analysis of House Shrine and Akhenaten Making Offerings One of the most enigmatic pharaohs of Egyptian history, Amenhotep IV, had grown up in the most powerful family in ancient Egypt. Once he became pharaoh and ruler of Egypt’s empire in 1378 BCE, he changed his name to Akhenaten, “effective spirit of Aten”, and was known to the people as “the heretic king. Early in his reign, Akhenaten encouraged ideas by using art as a way of emphasizing his political and religious intentions of doing things differently; therefore, changing Egyptian society. This was true for the following reasons. Politically, when Akhenaten denounced the state deities, he altered the artistic style and technique of ancient Egypt, by the intimate settings and placements of him and his royal family. Religiously, the forced monotheistic religion was artistically stylized by having the new deity, Aten, as the main theme in his reliefs. These emphases were what came to be known as Amarna art, an erratic, sensual, new style of art that celebrated the vibrancy and movement of the real world during Akhenaten’s reign. Akhenaten’s famous two relief sculptures, House Shrine and Akhenaten Making Offerings, reflect the revolutionary changes in art and religion and therefore of politics during the reign of this monotheistic pharaoh. Akhenaten and his family were the only royal family that was intimately described by the king as displaying love and devotion under the protection of Aten. In House Shrine (figure 1), the limestone stele, depicts King Akhenaten and his “Holy Family” starring his wife Queen Nefertiti and his two daughters. It was intended to be stored in a private room in the Amarna palace. The stele is decorated with an intimate scene showing the daily life of the Holy
Bibliography: Aldred, Cyril. Akhenaten: King of Egypt. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1991) Dunn, Jimmy. “The Amarna Period”. Tour Egypt. 2011. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amarnaperiod.htm Janson, H.W., Janson’s History of Art: The Western Tradition, Eighth Edition (New York: Prentice Hall, 2006) Pemberton, Delia, Treasures of the Pharaohs (San Francisco: Duncan Baird Publishers, 2004)