Akhenaten Art Style
During Akhenaten’s reign, Akhenaten led a noteworthy artistic reformation to go along with his spiritual shift. The style that he created has been labeled both naturalistic and expressionistic, but how you distinguish it depends on which part of his reign that you are looking at. The Pharaoh Amenhotep IV did not just change his name to Akhenaten and the religion of ancient Egypt creates the first known monotheism, but the artistic style made the immediate conversion from the traditional Egyptian style of depicting people with ideal physiques, to a unique and rather unsettling form. He utilized this art to show his objective of carrying out things abnormally. When the new god, Aten, was first created he was represented as a falcon- headed
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In spite of the ceremonial scenes of the Pharaoh praising Aten continues to be a crucial point of the period, there was a growing stress on the intimate displays of Akhenaten and Nefertiti playing with their daughters underneath the light of their god. Throughout initial years there has been a propensity for the artists to make the royal family members look just as disfigured as the Pharaoh. Their necks were elongated and narrow,they had sloped noses and foreheads, protruding chins, broad ears and lips,stem-like arms and calves and extensive thighs,stomachs, and hips as seen in the stele Akhenaten and his family. “ A brief moment in the lives of five beings as they are caught in the act of mutual affection.” (Aldred) Akhenaten deserted Thebes, the capital of Egypt since the start of his reign, and moved further north creating a new capital called Akhetaten or “Horizon of Aten”. With the shift in location , the art became less excessive, while some may distinguish as naturalistic, it continued eminently stylized in its representation of the body. It was at this time that Nefertiti’s face ,as we know it today, had surfaced. The works from this time are probably some of the most acclaimed of Egyptian art. Akhenaten’s image was also reestablished. His features became delicate, curved, and fleshy than in prior
In spite of the ceremonial scenes of the Pharaoh praising Aten continues to be a crucial point of the period, there was a growing stress on the intimate displays of Akhenaten and Nefertiti playing with their daughters underneath the light of their god. Throughout initial years there has been a propensity for the artists to make the royal family members look just as disfigured as the Pharaoh. Their necks were elongated and narrow,they had sloped noses and foreheads, protruding chins, broad ears and lips,stem-like arms and calves and extensive thighs,stomachs, and hips as seen in the stele Akhenaten and his family. “ A brief moment in the lives of five beings as they are caught in the act of mutual affection.” (Aldred) Akhenaten deserted Thebes, the capital of Egypt since the start of his reign, and moved further north creating a new capital called Akhetaten or “Horizon of Aten”. With the shift in location , the art became less excessive, while some may distinguish as naturalistic, it continued eminently stylized in its representation of the body. It was at this time that Nefertiti’s face ,as we know it today, had surfaced. The works from this time are probably some of the most acclaimed of Egyptian art. Akhenaten’s image was also reestablished. His features became delicate, curved, and fleshy than in prior