Proportion and Style in Ancient Egyptian Art by Gay Robins

Author:Gay Robins [Robins, Gay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2010-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 6.17

Standing figure of Nefertiti with hypothetical 20-square grid, Boundary Stela S, Amarna, eighteenth dynasty, after Davies 1908a, Plate 26.

FIGURE 6.18

Standing figure of Nefertiti with hypothetical 20-square grid, block from parapet, Amarna, eighteenth dynasty, Cairo Museum JE 87300, after Roeder 1969, Plate 2.

FIGURE 6.19

Standing figure of Nefertiti with hypothetical 20-square grid, tomb chapel of Apy, Amarna, eighteenth dynasty, after Davies 1906, Plate 31.

FIGURE 6.20

Standing figure of Nefertiti with hypothetical 20-square grid, tomb chapel of May, Amarna, eighteenth dynasty, after Davies 1908a, Plate 3.

6.4. Anomalies in the Tomb of Mahu

In considering the proportions of the king and queen so far, I have excluded two depictions of the royal couple from the tomb of Mahu,55 contemporary with other figures in the later style. When Davies was recording this tomb, he noted that the proportions of the figures were bad.56 It is interesting that grid analysis confirms that the figures have anomalous proportions and can quantify how they differ from other figures of the king and queen.

In the first scene,57 the head proportions of the king’s figure are normal with the throat near horizontal 18 and the junction of the neck and shoulders near 17, but the nipple is half a square lower than the usual 15, while the navel lies near 10 instead of 11, the belly fold near 9 instead of 10, and the lower border of the buttock a little below 9 (Fig. 6.21). The knee, however, still lies at 6.

On the accompanying figure of the queen, the anomalies are slightly different (Fig. 6.22). The throat level is lowered to horizontal 17 1/2 and the junction of the neck and shoulders to 16 1/2, and the breast is as low as 14. The lower border of the buttocks is still on 9, but horizontal 5 rather than 6 relates to the knee.

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