While at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art I came across two sculptures from the Egyptian Art Culture Gallery of the
Museum. I've always been fascinated by the Egyptian culture from its specific
Gods to the Hieroglyphics. The first sculpture hails from the New Kingdom,
Dynasty 18 under Amenhotep II reign. The second sculpture depicts the head or
what may also be considered bust from the 4th century B.C.—probably
from Bubastis. Both these sculptures even through the centuries do share some
principle similarities but also hold a distinction or two which makes them
unique.
The
sculpture of the New Kingdom under Amenhotep II’s rule is a Garnierite statue
of the Goddess Sekhmet (1390-1352 B.C.). I've heard of and about this goddess
being she is the goddess of violence, illness and disease; they prayed to her
for health and well-being as sign of pleasing the goddess. My angle or point of
view of the 3D statue was a bit higher so it made an impression that a goddess
was looking over me. Within that statue I felt a presence was emitting from the
statue itself. All my attention was drawn to her face since she had the head of
a lion which represents the destructive and chaotic prowess she held. The light
cascading onto the sculpture from above was defining the grayish-black curves
of the body of Sekhmet. From the statue it had a sense of balance
asymmetrically through the broken/chipped pieces of the statue. The light from
above showed off the lines of the statue or the body of it through the implied
lines created from it. With the chipped off pieces of the statue and the fact
it was created by a human, it gives off a sense of a geometric and organic
field to it due to the aging of time.
The
second sculpture depicts the head of a God named Bes-image. The material used
to create this sculpture is Limestone from the 4th century B.C. from
Bubastis. There wasn't much info of the exact years but I’d believe the 4th
century was at least 500 years apart in comparison to the 1st
sculpture. It has an asymmetrical feel overall, it would'v been symmetric if
it had both of its ears. The bust developed a very humorous feeling based off
the facial expression but with that one ear, I felt as if it heard me snicker at
least once or twice. From the angle, he was literally in equal means; my head
was neither tilted up nor down. The light was very bright on this statue—from
reading the description and the lighting; he was the god of newborn gods so I felt
a very pleasant, very holy aura from it since all newborn life is very
uplifting in most aspect. Just like the first one it has a geometric and
organic feel to it, with it being made by a human and also being carved slowly
but surely through the trials of time.
I've
always been fascinated by the Egyptian Culture itself and I felt I was able to
learn a bit more about them through their painstaking craftsmanship of the
sculptures. They were really dedicated to pleasing and praying to their gods in
order to be rewarded with happiness, well-being, fertility, and order. Sekhmet
was one of the many Gods I was most curious, as are all the gods that I've
researched. The Egyptians seemed to be very content with the judgment of a
higher power to bless them through worship.
Overall this journey through history was one experience I’d soon not
forget and hopefully I’ll return one day to observe more artist points of view
that were salvaged and saved through the past.
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