The “Egyptian history” book I’m reading with my kid states that the “Egyptians couldn’t draw perspective and therefore flattened everything” and continues with that this is the reason we see multi storied houses in drawing but not in archeological finds. Does this ring a bell or is it just elementary school oversimplification again?
Do elementary school kids even understand what perspective is?
Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
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Re: Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
#12The “Egyptian history” book I’m reading with my kid states that the “Egyptians couldn’t draw perspective and therefore flattened everything” and continues with that this is the reason we see multi storied houses in drawing but not in archeological finds. Does this ring a bell or is it just elementary school oversimplification again?
Everything the Egyptians did was intentional.
How could they build statues if they could only reason in 2d space? That makes no sense.
In a way many of their creations are a combination of spacetime(3d and time) accompanied by 2d storytelling as a form of narrative much like we write on the internet except maybe more comic book like.
Re: Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
#13The “Egyptian history” book I’m reading with my kid states that the “Egyptians couldn’t draw perspective and therefore flattened everything” and continues with that this is the reason we see multi storied houses in drawing but not in archeological finds. Does this ring a bell or is it just elementary school oversimplification again?
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/technique/perspective/histor...
Re: Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
#14The Narmer palette is the classic example of how the artistic style sprung up almost fully formed in just a few hundred years. After that, it all was just minor variations on the same theme.
It's similar to how many modern banks or courthouses have greek columns: when there is cultural continuity, some styles just live on after they reached maturity until the entire culture is wiped out.
Re: Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
#15But who is very far away, but can see everything? Clearly the gods.. By making the images the way they do elevates the humans who see them to gods.
Re: Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
#16Incidentally, this style came back into fashion for a few centuries in Middle Ages Europe. You can see many examples in tapestries and illuminated manuscripts.
If you are curious about Ancient Egyptian culture, these two books have mostly excellent articles.
A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17073753-a-companion-to-...)
A Companion to Ancient Egypt (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8561459-a-companion-to-a...)
Re: Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
#17One thing I don't see the article mentioning is how rigid Egyptian culture and society was from 3000 BC up to the time of Alexander the Great. The Narmer palette is the classic example of how the artistic style sprung up almost fully formed in just a few hundred years. After that, it all was just minor variations on the same theme. It's similar to how many modern banks or courthouses have greek columns: when there is…
Re: Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
#18One thing I don't see the article mentioning is how rigid Egyptian culture and society was from 3000 BC up to the time of Alexander the Great. The Narmer palette is the classic example of how the artistic style sprung up almost fully formed in just a few hundred years. After that, it all was just minor variations on the same theme. It's similar to how many modern banks or courthouses have greek columns: when there is…
Or perhaps, if one "purpose" of Art is to reach some aesthetic "perfection", where/when form and purpose reach a common maximum, then there is no need to even try to "improve" anything anymore.
Re: Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?
#19One thing I don't see the article mentioning is how rigid Egyptian culture and society was from 3000 BC up to the time of Alexander the Great. The Narmer palette is the classic example of how the artistic style sprung up almost fully formed in just a few hundred years. After that, it all was just minor variations on the same theme. It's similar to how many modern banks or courthouses have greek columns: when there is…
> It's similar to how many modern banks or courthouses have greek columns: when there is cultural continuity, some styles just live on after they reached maturity until the entire culture is wiped out. Or perhaps, if one "purpose" of Art is to reach some aesthetic "perfection", where/when form and purpose reach a common maximum, then there is no need to even try to "improve" anything anymore.