When the Pyramids Were Built: Egyptian Art of the Old Kingdom - Hardcover

Arnold, Dorothea

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0870999087 ISBN 13: 9780870999086

Publisher: Rizzoli, 1999

Synopsis

The Old Kingdom (c. 2650-2150 B.C.E.), the first golden age of Ancient Egypt, was a period that defined the culture's artistic style for centuries to come. It was during this time that the great pyramids of Giza, the only remaining wonders of the ancient world, were built. When Greek historian Herodotus saw these monuments in the fifth century B.C.E., he was told they were constructed by the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. Ironically, today, 170 years after their hieroglyphics were deciphered and extensive archaeological research has been conducted, we do not know much more than Herodotus did about this magnificent era of Egyptian art.
During the Old Kingdom, artists worked in an array of mediums and techniques, using wood, and precious metals to create monumental statues, reliefs, and wall paintings. Some four millennia later, these works of art maintain their power to move the viewer. "When the Pyramids Were Built: Egyptian Art of the Old Kingdom" is the catalogue that accompanies a landmark exhibition organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Reunion des Musees Nationaux in Paris, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The show brings together 115 Old Kingdom masterworks from museum collections throughout the world.

Included in the exhibition, as well as this volume, are sculptures executed with such an acute observation of musculature and body movement that they brought an unprecedented realism to the rendering of men, women, children, and animals. Several depictions of family groups in particular show the sensitivity with which the Old Kingdom artists illuminated human relationships. Individual masterpieces include the monumental statue of Heminu, thought to be responsible for the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza; groups representing the Fourth Dynasty king Menkaure with a queen and various deities; and a unique alabaster statuette showing Sixth Dynasty queen Ank-nes-meryre II holding her son, the child king Pepi II, in her lap.

The lively text by Dorothea Arnold offers an overview of the history, society, and art of the Old Kingdom, and an informative discussion of each of the illustrated works. All of the pieces were newly photographed for this book by Bruce White.

About this title

From the Publisher:

The Egyptian Old Kingdom (c. 2650-2150 BC) was an era of extraordinary artistic achievement-the period that gave us the Sphinx and the pyramids as well as a rich legacy of private tombs, wall paintings, reliefs, statuary, jewelry, and decorative arts. This book, the companion volume to a major traveling exhibition organized by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre in Paris, showcases the most impressive assemblage of Egyptian art and artifacts since the Tutankhamun exhibition of the late 1970s. Scholarly essays and 650 illustrations bring to life a remarkable panoply of Old Kingdom objects-temple and tomb reliefs, striking gold jewelry, handsome stone vessels, monumental statues, stelae, and exquisite statuettes. Together, text and images create a stunning tribute to the world of the Pharaohs. 650 illustrations, 500 in full color, 9 x 12" Advertising: Art magazines Dorothea Arnold is the Lila Acheson Wallace Curator in Charge of Egyptian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the author of many books and articles. Catharine H. Roehrig is associate curator in the Department of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan. Christiane Ziegler is conservateur general of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the Louvre in Paris. Exhibition Schedule Grand Palais, Paris Apr. 6-Aug. 12, 1999 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Sept. 16, 1999-Jan. 9, 2000 Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Feb. 12-May 16, 2000

About the Author:

Dorothea Arnold is Lila Acheson Wallace Curator in Charge of the Department of Egyptian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is the co-author of The Royal Women of Amarna: Images of Beauty from Ancient Egypt and editor of Ancient Art from the Shumei Family Collection, both published by the Museum.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rizzoli
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0870999087
• ISBN 13: 9780870999086
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144