From Egypt to Asia -- ESSAY#1

Rekhmire and His Mother in Front of Their Offering Table
Facsimile painted in 1928-29

Stele Commissioned by Helian Ziyue and a Devotional Society of Five Hundred Individuals
Eastern Wei dynasty, dated 533-543

In  history, art has been a medium in which people choose to express themselves and the events in their own time period. Cases shown in early art, culture and religion have a huge impact on the growth of art in a specific era. Artists from different times show similar styles because of similar characteristics in their civilizations.
       The painting "Rekhmire and His Mother in Front of Their Offering Table" by Charles K. Wilkinson uses many techniques used even today. The first thing one can see is the rhythm and repetition of the food piled high on the table and the way the humans are drawn. As well, the balance of the piece is well placed with the large human figures to the left most and most of the wall paintings and the food being to the right side. When regarding visual elements, the ones expressed the most are the use of shapes, colors, and pattern. Taking a good look at the many techniques used in this time, this piece is  good representation on how they saw themselves and how their social structure worked.
       The sculpture "Stele Commissioned by Helian Ziyue and a Devotional Society of Five Hundred Individuals" even though seems to be damaged still holds it's artistic value. Much like the previous painting talked about, this limestone structure shows the way people of this era in time formed their culture around a figure of higher value. The large base balances well with the top showing all the people and the person at the middle representing Buddha. The actual shape of this makes it seem more like a manuscript that one is supposed to read, explaining the characters inscribed into it. In addition to it's shape, the height of the sculpture purposely puts the viewer at a lower eye level. This symbolizes how they worshiped Buddha and held him at a level higher then just man. A texture is formed especially from the house like holes that hole the small figures around surrounding the walls of the sculpture.
       These two pieces of art hold similar characteristics due to the idea of having a "ruler" in both cultures. Both showed a head figure, as well as people serving that said figure. The proportion of these figures as well were very large in comparison to the rest of humans in both pieces. Even though they may be similar, each has their own way of representing this high power. The painting shows servant like people where the sculpture shows devote followers. This immediately shows the way their cultures were ran, and was the reason why I chose these two pieces. I enjoyed taking apart these two arts of different eras and comparing them to each other. I believe that art is something people do that reveals something deep that cannot be explained with words.