Charles F. Pfeiffer

Akhenaton’s influence in art, like his religious beliefs, had antecedents and it would be improper to give him the credit—or blame—for all the art forms which found expression during the period of his reign. Nevertheless, under his inspiration we meet a new type of naturalism, almost an expressionism, coming to full flower. W. Stevenson Smith notes, “Men of ability ... fell in with the ideas of Amenhotep IV and after a few tentative efforts, developed a new style with remarkable speed.”[54] Bas reliefs show that Akhenaton was personally interested in art. He appears on visits to the sculptors’ workshops in the company of Nofretete. Akhenaton’s views of art are reflected in the royal monuments of his reign, the stelae that were erected to mark the boundaries of Akhetaton, and in the tombs prepared for government officials in the eastern desert.

Sunken Relief

One change in the Amarna Age art was purely mechanical. Sunken relief replaces the traditional raised relief in the ornamentation of the rock tombs. Davies comments on the technique:

The rock in which they are hewn is far from having the uniform good quality which would invite bas-reliefs of the usual kind. Nor was Akhenaton willing, it appears, to employ the flat painting on plastered walls which was so much in vogue, and which the artists of Akhetaton also employed at times with good effect. The idea of modelling in plaster was conceived or adopted; and since figures in plaster-relief would have been liable to easy injury, the outline was sunk so far below the general surface as to bring the parts in highest relief just to its level Nor was this the only measure taken to ensure durability. The whole design was first cut roughly in sunk-relief in the stone itself. Then a fine plaster was spread over it, covering all the inequalities and yet having the support of all points of a solid stone core. While the plaster was still soft, it was moulded with a blunt tool into the form and features which the artist desired. Finally the whole was painted, all the outlines being additionally marked out in red, frequently with such deviations as to leave the copyist in dilemma between the painted and the moulded lines.[55]

Amarna Style Head. A relief showing the characteristic art of the Amarna Age.

Realism

Akhenaton’s chief contribution to art, however, was anything but mechanical. Under his prodding, the artists at Akhetaton developed a realism—and even a distortion—which contrasts with the conservative, stylizing tendencies of earlier Egyptian art. The chief sculptor Bek describes himself on a stele as one “whom his majesty himself taught.”

Arthur Weigall suggests that the innovations which Akhenaton brought into the art of his day were, in fact, a self-conscious return to earlier art forms. Young Akhenaton, Weigall assumes, would have discovered that the sun god Re-Harakhti was much more ancient than Amon of Thebes, and that ancient art forms differed from those in use during the Theban supremacy. In reverting to the religious views of the Heliopolitan priesthood, Akhenaton would also have chosen to effect a renaissance of earlier art forms.[56]

Others have speculated on the possibility of Minoan influence on Akhenaton’s art, noting that the Minoans adopted a naturalism which parallels that of Amarna, although Knossus was sacked some time during the reign of Amenhotep III. Barring the migration of Minoan artists to Akhetaton (which is rather unlikely), it may be best to see in the Amarna art forms a development based upon changes which were already being felt in art circles in Egypt. John A. Wilson notes that the older stylized art forms were on their way out as early as the reign of Thutmose III, and that the earlier tradition ended by the time of Hatshepsut.[57]

The naturalism of Akhenaton, however, goes far beyond his predecessors. The Pharaoh is not depicted in the splendid isolation of a god-king, but in the informal pose of a husband and father. Akhenaton habitually appears in the company of his wife, Nofretete, and their daughters, of whom ultimately there were six. A stele depicts Akhenaton kissing an infant while a second child sits on the queen’s knee. Another shows a banquet scene with the king gnawing on a large piece of meat while his wife is eating roast fowl with her hands.

Caricature

Not only informality, but actual caricature tended to mark the art of Akhetaton. The natural deformities of the king were more than faithfully reproduced—they were exaggerated. The elongated skull, long thin neck, pointed chin, obtruding stomach, and abnormally large hips and thighs of the king may have been emphasized by artists who felt that any characteristic of a son of Aton deserves special attention.

The way in which people reacted to the king’s wishes may be seen in a child’s toy depicted at Akhetaton. A tomb painting “shows a model chariot drawn by monkeys. In the chariot is another monkey urging along his steeds (his receding forehead is terribly like the king’s), by him a monkey princess prods the rump of the horse-monkeys which are jibbing and refusing to budge an inch in spite of a monkey groom who is dragging at their bridles for dear life.”[58] Such caricature would indicate that the “image” of Pharaoh as a son of Aton has been popularly dispelled, and with it much of his power over his subjects.

Transitional Art Forms

The transition from the pre-Amarna art forms to those encouraged by Akhenaton may be observed in the tomb of the vizier Ramose in the Theban necropolis. Ramose first had a portrait of young Akhenaton carved in his tomb in the conventional style, but later he added a second portrait in the new style. The latter depicts Akhenaton standing with Nofretete beneath the rays of the sun, bestowing golden necklets upon their faithful vizier. Officials of the royal harem and a number of servants look on. Akhenaton and his courtiers have the physical characteristics which became conventional in Amarna art.

The Development of Amarna Art

The most violent break with the older convention came in the early years of Akhenaton’s reign. Before the move to Akhetaton, the Theban hillside was dotted with tombs decorated with the newer art forms and bearing inscriptions praising the Pharaoh. With the move to Amarna, the art conventions matured. Artists developed their own distinctive tastes and at times modified the prevailing tendencies.

The painted stucco pavement which Petrie discovered in 1891 expresses the love of nature which the Aton cult encouraged. It depicts a pool surrounded by clumps of flowers in which birds are sporting and calves playing. Frescoes from the Green Room of the North Palace, excavated by Francis Newton in 1924, represent the luxuriance of a papyrus thicket full of beautiful birds, brightened up here and there by blue lotuses.

Some of the finest specimens of ancient Egyptian art have come from the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, discovered by Ludwig Borchard during the German expedition at Amarna prior to World War I. In preparing a series of heads of members of the royal family, Thutmose chose to refine rather than to stress their physical peculiarities. Thutmose based his work on keen observation, augmented by casts taken from life when he wanted to record the characteristic features of his subject. Among his masterpieces are the famous painted limestone bust of Nofretete—perhaps the best known piece of Egyptian art; and an unfinished portrait of the queen now in the Cairo Museum.