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This page contains more than just paintings, but the concentration will be on that which appeared on the walls of temples and tombs as well as papyrus.

The pages on this site are still under construction. Please be patient as they form and the links become workable.

The Egyptians covered the walls of tombs and temples with thousands of pictures. These pictures are chiefly illustrations, which means they tell a story with or without words. They may describe the life of a deceased King or Queen, the battles fought, hunting parties, parades or other important happenings in the life of the deceased. Even their death was recorded in this imagery. Most of the time hieroglyphics were added above, at the side or most anywhere within the painting. Hieroglyphics is a form of picture writing used by the Egyptians.

Egyptian artists were taught to draw in the same manner. This sometimes leaves figures looking twisted and is much different than how people are drawn today. The shoulders and the eye were drawn in full front, what we call frontal. The head, hips, legs and feet were drawn from the side. We call this a profile. Try standing the way they were drawn. It's very uncomfortable. The arm might be shown crossing in front of the body but you will notice that the shoulders remain as a frontal view. Though the Egyptians did wear clothing of different colors, they most often wore white to reflect the heat of the sun and are almost always depicted in white clothing in paintings. Women usually wore long gowns with simple straps while men wore a sort of wrap-around kilt.

When the Egyptian artists drew pictures of several people, they didn't know how to show those more distant correctly. Showing distance properly is called perspective. Instead of using the rules of perspective, as we know them, they drew people (of the same rank) the same size and placed the person farther away above the one whom was closer. Sometimes they were placed slightly higher on the page which is how we show distance. Size did come into play but not in terms of perspective. Kings and Gods were always drawn the largest. Figures were reduced in size by rank, lesser slaves being the smallest.

Their paintings mostly were of people. Men, women, pharaohs, and queens were shown. Yet the gods and goddesses were highly visible. Many of these gods had the head of an animal or bird. A few took on the form of the animal. The most common god appearing in tombs was Anubis, the god of embalming. He had the head of a jackal and it was believed he saw the dead safely to their new life. the jackal is considered a sacred animal.

The paintings contained white and black but the Egyptians only used four bright colors in their work. These were red, yellow, green and blue. They liked to paint things bright, even if it weren't natural. You might see a man with a green face. For the most part, men appeared red and women yellow, but this was not always the case. They used "fast" colors to paint with. This means the paint did not fade easily. The darkness of the tombs was a protection from light, which helped in preserving these paintings.

The walls of the temples and tombs were also decorated with a kind of sculpture, which is cut only a little way into a stone background, like a 'picture in stone.' This is called a bas-relief. Pictures were carved into many things, including coffins and furniture. The gold back of King Tut's chair is one example. (See the link to King Tut).

You might notice in Egpytian paintings that, other than children, everyone appears to be the same age. People were not drawn old even if they died in their 70's or 80's. There was no indication as to whether a person was heavyset or thin. All appeared healthy and of uniform size. You will also see that they wore heavy black makeup around the eyes and black wigs, which was the custom of the times.

Many animals held sacred by the Egyptians appeared in their paintings. The cat, cobra, jackal, and bull were such animals. The vulture was another sacred creature whose wings appear often. Nekhbet is one of a their winged gods. Wings often appear on the goddess Isis. Even the wings alone stood as a sacred symbol.

The Egyptians held a great appreciation for nature. This was shown in their artwork as well. One of the most depicted plants was the lotus. This horn shaped plant was rendered in many paintings and often used as a motif. A motif is a simple design that can be repeated to create colorful borders. Such borders are prevalent in Egyptian art.

Many of their paintings were done on a material called papyrus, named after the plant it was made from. This early form of paper was made from the stem of the papyrus plant. Hieroglyphics appeared on these paintings as well. (See the page on hieroglyphics.) Important documents were often carved into stone tablets, but papyrus was also used as a writing material. A scribe was a person hired to write personal scripting as well as official documents.

The words 'gigantic' and 'monumental' come to mind when you think of the Egyptians. They created huge works from the pyramids to their sculptures. The statues within their temples were massive. (See the page on meeting the Egyptians.) Many of these were very detailed and lifelike. Those placed outside many temples were extremely large. Some were built into the side of a mountain.

One of the more known sculptures is that of a sphinx. The sphinx is a creature having the body of a lion and the head of a man, bird or other creature.

The Egyptians created other magnificent pieces of art. Their designs appeared on most everything. Vases, weapons, furniture, utensils, games, and instruments, were a few such items. Most ornate was their jewelry. Jewels and gold were often used in creating their accessories. Another sacred symbol was the scarab. This tiny insect appeared often. (See the page on the gods.) Men as well as women wore jewelry. The Egyptians took great pride in their appearance.

09/29/01