ANIMATE · Figural Proportions, Guiding Systems and the Drafting of Animals in Ancient Egyptian Tomb Imagery

Figural Proportions, Guiding Systems and the Drafting of Animals in Ancient Egyptian Tomb Imagery

The use of guiding systems as utilitarian tools in the design and art-making process is that practice that transcend discipline, time and place. These systems can range from a single auxiliary line through to a complex network of geometric shapes. Their practicality and flexibility permits their use as technical aids, educational devices and/or tools for transferring information, acting as assistive tools for ensuring that a design appears and functions as desired. For those studying art and design, their use can offer valuable insights into artistic workflows, education, and the mechanics behind the creation and communication of visual knowledge. Current evidence places some of the earliest (if not the earliest) known use of such guiding systems within ancient Egypt. While the general functions of guiding systems have been touched upon within Egyptology, thorough analyses of their application have privileged one role in particular. The so-called canon of proportion(s) is a system of visual measurements (commonly in the form of a squared grid) which assisted artists in ordering namely the height but also the width of the human body. The predominant focus on this function over others has arguably led to the misconception that it was the foremost or even sole purpose of these visual tools. On one hand, such scholarly attention has generated a firmer grasp on the “how” behind the representation of the human form. On the other, it has resulted in the drafting of non-human subjects using guides and potential other functions of the systems being comparatively overlooked. It is based on this gap in the state of the field that the research project ANIMATE was developed. Its overarching aim was to examine the use of guiding systems connection with a previously understudied body of material, that being illustrations of animals in two-dimensional ancient Egyptian imagery. To achieve this goal, the project was driven by three key objectives*: 1. To determine what directed the design and construction of guiding systems used by ancient Egyptian artists when rendering animal figures via an analysis of surviving examples from private tombs and on associated visual supports. 2. To demonstrate that the drafting of non-human forms during scene composition may too be structured by investigating potential parallels or connections between the known techniques used for rendering the human form and those discovered for the drafting animal figures. 3. To explore connections and/or parallels between the ancient Egyptian use of guiding systems and those recorded in wider studies of art history and design theory, thus showcasing the benefits of conducting interdisciplinary research. Through examining a new subject matter, the project intended to demonstrate that more can be learnt about guiding systems when focus is shifted beyond the previously favoured human form. By extension, it further aspired to deepen our understanding of the methods and techniques used by ancient Egyptian artists when composing two-dimensional imagery, along with their educational practices and means for transmitting visual knowledge on a wider scale. *Note that the objectives listed here were updated where necessary as a result of data collation and research conducted in the early stages of the MSCA project.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз