Statue of Khafre
Wu, Jocelyn
Mrs. Shurtliff
GNST 2020
Survey Of Western Art
26 August 2012
Statue of Khafre
In the extensive subject of art history, there are pieces of art that echo the period it was created in, the history of land and its people, and still stand to this day as a age-old reminder of the significance and value of a once era. Though early art, before the Common Era, has a large number of quantities that do in fact represent the ‘pieces’ there are a certain few portions of art that, in its whole, exemplify these standards. The Ka Statue of Khafre is the embodiment of the style of art during the Old Kingdom era in Egypt. The Statue of Khafre is a classic example of Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty, Egyptian art in itself. A sculpture in the round, the Ka Statue of Khafre, is made of diorite, a very permanent and lasting type of stone, from, Gizeh, Egypt, by an unknown sculptor, of which was characteristic of Egyptian art (Gardner, Kleiner, Tansey). Generally, most Egyptian art, even with today’s technology and expansive research in art history, has an unknown maker, with very few exceptions. The setting of the piece was intended to be at the burial place of Khafre, near the Great Sphinx and the Gizeh Pyramids. The Statue of Khafre was built, though an estimate, during 2520- 2494 BCE, and stands at 5’ 6” high, and remains in the Cairo Museum instead of near the Pharaoh’s resting place in the Valley Temple (Gardner, Kleiner). The composition of the sculpture, as created by the unknown artist, is very distinct in style and form. Art historians and archeologists find that the diorite stone that the sculptor carved and chiseled is only found, far from the Valley Temple, where it was made. The diorite material, according to text, is only in quarries at least 400 miles away and down the Nile River (Garner, Kleiner). From the material gathering alone, it is evident of the power the Pharaoh contained to create the statue. The piece is formal in its placement and
Mrs. Shurtliff
GNST 2020
Survey Of Western Art
26 August 2012
Statue of Khafre
In the extensive subject of art history, there are pieces of art that echo the period it was created in, the history of land and its people, and still stand to this day as a age-old reminder of the significance and value of a once era. Though early art, before the Common Era, has a large number of quantities that do in fact represent the ‘pieces’ there are a certain few portions of art that, in its whole, exemplify these standards. The Ka Statue of Khafre is the embodiment of the style of art during the Old Kingdom era in Egypt. The Statue of Khafre is a classic example of Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty, Egyptian art in itself. A sculpture in the round, the Ka Statue of Khafre, is made of diorite, a very permanent and lasting type of stone, from, Gizeh, Egypt, by an unknown sculptor, of which was characteristic of Egyptian art (Gardner, Kleiner, Tansey). Generally, most Egyptian art, even with today’s technology and expansive research in art history, has an unknown maker, with very few exceptions. The setting of the piece was intended to be at the burial place of Khafre, near the Great Sphinx and the Gizeh Pyramids. The Statue of Khafre was built, though an estimate, during 2520- 2494 BCE, and stands at 5’ 6” high, and remains in the Cairo Museum instead of near the Pharaoh’s resting place in the Valley Temple (Gardner, Kleiner). The composition of the sculpture, as created by the unknown artist, is very distinct in style and form. Art historians and archeologists find that the diorite stone that the sculptor carved and chiseled is only found, far from the Valley Temple, where it was made. The diorite material, according to text, is only in quarries at least 400 miles away and down the Nile River (Garner, Kleiner). From the material gathering alone, it is evident of the power the Pharaoh contained to create the statue. The piece is formal in its placement and
Cited: Brommer, Gerald F., and David Kohl. Discovering Art History. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications, 1988. Print. Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner 's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Vol. 1. [Boston, Mass.]: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Gardner, Helen, Richard G. Tansey, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner 's Art through the Ages. 4th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College, 1996. Print. Janson, H. W., and H. W. Janson. Janson 's History of Art: The Western Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.