This is a mural restoration of an ancient tomb in the period of the New Kingdom, depicting a scene of family reunion. The costumes of the characters in the picture are bright and gorgeous, all popular styles in the New Kingdom period, and the rich diet also shows the richness and sufficiency of the society at that time. Later, paintings appeared on the walls of the tomb, which was directly related to the "eternal life" in religion. The ancient Egyptians did not chant amorous feelings, but described their life scenes in the afterlife. The objective impression in real life is deeply imprinted in their minds, so there are also labor, beer, livestock and war in the eternal world.
Goose and duck murals of the fourth dynasty. In a tomb in Sheila Opoli, the earliest tomb mural was found. There are six big ships in the center of the picture. There are many people and animals around the ship with different postures. At the bottom right of the picture are two soldiers fighting, one of whom is depicted as a man with his head down, symbolizing that he is a defeated man; The winner in the lower left corner escorted three prisoners with sticks.
In ancient Egyptian paintings, there are often scenes of escorting prisoners. Perhaps ancient Egyptian painters used this scene as a formula for victory in the war. Because the function of painting works is to describe events and immortality rather than aesthetics, ancient Egyptians stopped their artistic exploration. From the ancient kingdom to the foreign dynasty for thousands of years, Egyptian painting has not made great progress. We can't help but say that this functionality and practicality restrict the development of painting art.
Looking at the painting art of ancient Egypt, we can draw a conclusion that ancient Egyptian painting is very similar to children's crayons. This does not mean to belittle the painting art of ancient Egypt. Children's paintings can make people understand their ideas more easily. If we let them explain their paintings, we will find that there are more abstract things in their painting language, which are not found in adult works that repeatedly emphasize realism. About 65438 BC+0450 BC, the murals of the transport ship on the Nile will make two trees grow by roots for more convenient expression. They will pull the fish in the water to the surface. They will fill the whole canvas and fill the blank with irrelevant content. They prefer bright colors, and use as many colors as possible in a painting, so that black, white, gray, red, pink, brown, yellow, blue and green fill the whole picture.
Pictures of fishing and hunting are vividly displayed in ancient Egyptian paintings.
There is an example to illustrate this point. There is a famous mural in the tomb of the Queen of the Fourth Dynasty in Medum. Some people call him "Six Gooses in Medum". This mural is said to be a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian painting with a rare realistic style. However, this mural is also called "duck" in some books. There is no need to elaborate on the difference between ducks and geese. Only in children's paintings can we tell whether the poultry in the painting is a duck or a goose.
Another feature is exaggeration based on realism. In a mural showing Anatong's daughter's childhood, two naked and shaved princesses hold their heads like wax gourd. In children's paintings, it is often manifested in highlighting a certain feature to enlarge this feature. The color of this painting is bright red. I wonder if the princess will feel embarrassed when she grows up to see this painting?
In terms of composition, ancient Egyptian paintings are still quite satisfactory. For example, when painting murals on the wall, they first divide the wall into several layers with long lines, and the contents of each layer do not infringe upon each other. In many places, the protagonist is enlarged to occupy the whole wall, the plot described in the small picture is filled in the blank, or some hieroglyphics are written. In short, they don't leave a big blank like traditional Chinese painting.
During the Middle Kingdom period, there was a famous mural called "herding sheep", which was divided into two levels: foreground and background, which was regarded as an innovation. In the foreground of this painting, a shepherd feeds a prostrate antelope with a sokcho, and in the background, a naughty antelope is dragged back by another shepherd's horn. The antelope pulled back hard, and the shepherd dragged forward hard, and the two forces just balanced, forming a dynamic stillness.
In the New Kingdom period, the art of painting gradually declined, and there were no remarkable works.
Tomb mural