Visual and Contextual analysis of Ancient Egyptian Art-Bastet figurine
Abstract
A piece of art is a form of communication that employs a visual language rather than words to express or convey its message. Works of art have a setting in time and significance in aesthetics, utility, culture and/or religion. The art subject for this paper is an ancient Egyptian bastet bronze figurine from the Ptolemaic period (760-30 B.C). The paper’s content analyzes the visual aspects of the work of art and the use of elements and principles of art design in communicating to the viewer. It also analyzes the contextual aspect of the piece of art, in terms of setting in time and significance of the work of art.
Introduction
The bastet figurine is a religious deity symbol of ancient Egyptian mythology. Figurines of bastet were produced for use as gifts. This was probably because the goddesses’ figurines were thought to offer protection and bestow good upon the bearers. The figurine is chimerical and has a human body with a cat’s head. The cat’s head is symbolic and represents the deity’s theophany-the goddess was thought to appear in a cat’s form. The goddess was personified by the warming rays of the sun on the river Nile. She was depicted as a fun-loving goddess and patroness of music and dance. She was also a protector of men against diseases and demons as well as a protector for pregnant women. The figurine’s hands hold a sistrum (music) and the ankh (Egyptian symbol of life) to portray the works of the goddess as patron of music and merrymaking as well as a protector of lives.
The visual and contextual analysis of the bastet figurine
This particular piece is crafted from a bronze metallic alloy media. The technological advance in its production period (760-30 B.C) implies that the artistic method used in producing it could only have been a molding and casting process. Bronze alloy use in Egypt began between 3150-2100 BCE when Egypt could mine copper in the eastern desert/Sinai and import tin for alloy mixes. Bronze was easier to cast and hammer (‘Metals’, 2003). Though a goddess of the rays of the sun the bastet figurine looks not any shiny but exudes a sense of warmth brought a bout by the brown bronze color. The brown hue of the figurine has a light color value with a relatively uniform tonal variation. The lighting upon the object gives it a bright and shiny surface that tends to give it a smooth texture in visual appearance. However, on touch the texture does not feel as smooth as the eye suggests, this is because there are minute, rough grooves and indents on its surface. These are characteristic of the casting method used then, which was not highly refined to give smoother surfaces. The color might not have been the artist’s choice due to the setting in time but, nevertheless, serves to give a look of warmth and life to the figurine. The figurine portrays a general sense of stiffness and lack of motion due to its extremely vertical nature.
The basis of its cylindrical form is a vertical line running along its height gives it a motionless appearance because all body members except the hands fall along the line. The hands are slightly displaced horizontally. The shape of the figure gives it a height of 6.25 inches and a width of about 8 inches.On the principles of design the artist scores less on the use of elements of art to express the principles. According to Robins (2001) this is a common thing amongst many ancient Egyptian sculpture artists. This can be attributed to the fact that the placement in terms of time is in a period when art had not gotten a clear artistic analysis and approach of use of fixed guidelines. As an example the principle of proportion scores least (take a closer look of the relation of the feet, hands and head in comparison to the body’s size). The other lacking principle is rhythm because there is no variation of any nature on the object or a sense of motion or direction of focus. There is actually no line of direction that draws the eye towards a certain point on the object. However, the piece scores better on emphasis and balance as design principles. The artist’s placement of the symbolic objects on the hands and the cat head on the head draws emphasis towards this point above the torso of the figurine. On the other hand, the vertical nature and almost cylindrical form imparts a sense of balance onto the object.
Conclusively, the mood of the piece of art is rather somber and serious. This is portrayed by the stiff, motionless and emotionless face portrayed by the cat head. The subject of this piece of art is religion and it was created as a votive gift probably offered to friends, families or practitioners of the cultic sect. However, the actual big sized bastet sculptures would be expected exist in the temples where the deity bastet was revered or worshipped. The figurine small size forms would be expected to appear at homes; to grant the protective powers and the good offered by the goddess. The art work reflects a deeply religious culture of the polytheistic Egyptians in the ancient times. The symbolism synonymy of bastet with music suggests that their culture had a musical influence in it. The use of the cat head is also suggestive of a community that kept animals for pets or other purposes because its association with gods could have symbolized friendship with man. The use of metal and casting as a means of producing this piece suggests an advancing technological age chronologically. The age can also be said to be a social age as the reverence of deities meant communion with many other members of society that shared deities. The economy of the times could have been a vibrant one because the use metal for art meant that metallic tools had already been developed.
References
‘Metals’ (2003). Metals: Sources, technology and uses. Accessed on 27th April 2010 at http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/trades/metals.
Robins, G. and Fowler, S. A. (1994). Proportion and Style in Ancient Egyptian Art. Austin Texas, TX: University of Texas Press.
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