Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

The canon of the human figure

develop scope and perspective. Once the carvings
were completed, the walls were given a light coat of
stucco, and some were touched by paints of various

hues. The figures were outlined one last time so that

they would come to life against the neutral back-

grounds.

art and architecture 49

The set of artistic regulations called the canon of the

human figure evolved in the Early Dynastic Period and was

used by the ancient Egyptians as a model for representing

the human figure in reliefs and paintings. This evolved

within the parameters of cultic traditions. The Predynastic

Period Egyptians, already deeply concerned with spiritual

matters, had a need to communicate ideas and ideals

through the representation of divine beings, human per-

sonages, and events. From the beginning, the Egyptians

understood the propagandistic aspects of art and formu-

lated ways in which artistic representations could serve a

didactic purpose. Art was meant to convey information.

The canon of the human figure was the result of such

concerns, and it was a convention by which representa-

tions could convey metaphysical concepts while at the

same time bringing a vision of the material world to the

viewer. The canon dealt mainly with paintings and reliefs

as they were used in mortuary structures and cultic

shrines, and it governed the representation of three-dimen-

sional elements on a two-dimensional surface, which

demanded anatomical knowledge, perspective, and ideal-

ized composition.

Early examples demonstrate an increasing sophistica-

tion in such compositions, represented by the NARMER

PALETTE of the Predynastic Period. The Narmer palette

integrated all of the earlier artistic elements while display-

ing a unique energy and vitality. With the start of the Old

Kingdom (2575 B.C.E.), artistic conventions were being

codified to provide generations of artists with formal

guidelines on the proper positioning of the human figures

within a scene or a pictorial narrative, or a framework of

hieroglyphs and cultic symbols. According to the canon,

the human figure was to be composed in a prescribed

manner. To facilitate execution in reliefs and paintings, a

surface was divided into 18 rows of squares (the 19th

reserved for the hair). In later historical periods more rows

were added.

The human figure, when sketched or traced onto a

surface, was depicted from a dual perspective. The head

was always shown in profile, but the human eye and eye-

brow were depicted in full view. The shoulders and upper

torso were also shown in full view, so that the arms, hands,

and fingers were visible. The abdomen from armpit to the

waist was shown in profile and the navel was normally

placed on the side of the figure, directly on the edge. The

legs and feet were also shown in profile, balancing the

head, and until the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1400

B.C.E.) the inside of the feet was preferred over the outside

in human representations.

The canon was strictly observed when artists por-

trayed the ruling class of Egypt. The formality allowed by

the canon and its idealized conception lent grace and

authority, deemed critical to royal portraits. While one

might expect rigidity and a certain staleness to result from

this type of regimentation, the canon provided a frame-

work for continual elaboration, and the teams of artists

who worked together to adorn the private and public

shrines found a common ground for individual expression.

Artistic quality was maintained, and the needs of each

generation were incorporated into the standards regulating

fine art.

The canon of the human figure, the artistic standard

introduced in the Old Kingdom Period and demon-

strated in this mortuary relief of the official Hesiré.

(Hulton Archive.)