What is painting in Ancient Egypt? Let's find out

Egypt is a mysterious country that attracts many with its historical and cultural heritage. In addition to the majestic pyramids and papyri, the culture of Ancient Egypt is also well characterized by wall paintings that told researchers about virtually all aspects of Egyptian life. If you want to learn more about this country, then you just need to learn what painting in Ancient Egypt. Let's understand.

Reliefs and murals of Ancient Egypt

For sure, everyone has a general idea of the reliefs of Egypt. And this is not surprising, because what is painting in ancient Egypt? In fact, it was a strictly delineated picture. Thus, all people were depicted here strictly with their faces, hands and feet in profile, and their bodies in the front. Such an image, according to the Egyptians, most accurately allowed the transfer of proportions and features of the human body. First of all, the reliefs were related to the spiritual life of the society, which allowed keeping the canons unchanged for almost 2.5 millennia.

The highest peak of the heyday of this art was in Egypt in the 14th century BC. Egyptians for millennia hone the skills of the image, which ultimately allowed them to create the most accurate and clear lines and repetitive images.

What depicted the murals

The most common image in Ancient Egypt is the pictures of the afterlife. However, along with them, you can find pictures that helped researchers learn more about the life of the ancient Egyptians. So, in the temples and buildings you can see pictures of everyday life, such as, for example, harvesting, hunting, fishing, eating, worshiping the gods, resting the nobility and other activities in full detail. One thing was invariable: the master of the tomb was always present in the drawings and at least one of them was presented at the feast.

In order to emphasize the importance of this or that person, his image was increased in comparison with the rest. So, the biggest figures were gods and pharaohs, grandees - a little less, and the peasants were the smallest.

Where the murals were made

Firstly, murals were performed in tombs, which is why their main motive was the Egyptians' views of the afterlife. Such images were performed in bright colors, as, for example, in the tomb of pharaohs and noble people, but could simply be stamped on the rocks of burials of poorer layers of the population. At the same time, the surface of the tomb itself did not play a big role - whether it's sand blocks or the interior of a cave.

What is painting in Ancient Egypt is an art that, first of all, was not designed for the viewer, because often these works of art are located in places where access to ordinary people was banned.

Also, wall paintings of Ancient Egypt were made in temples dedicated to various gods. In this case, they already talked about the myths, legends and representations of the Egyptians about this or that deity.

How the Egyptians did the mural

In order to understand what painting in Ancient Egypt, it is necessary to find out how they were made. Initially, the Egyptians made depressions as contours of the picture, and then, if necessary, filled them with colors. And the colors used only natural and natural colors: red, yellow, green, blue and black. This was enough to express the intentions of the author. And the colors expressed not only this or that shade, but they conveyed the very soul of the painted object. For example, green color served as the personification of good.

The production of the painting went in three stages: the initial painting, the cutting of the indentations and the final painting. Ironically, some murals have retained their color even to this day.