10 THE FINE ARTS. 
wings, the serpent and vulture, &c. We find here exhibited the striking 
contrast, that the Egyptians in their combinations most willingly sacrifice the 
head of the human figure, whereas the Greeks in the same case constantly 
retain the head: we will instance only the syrens and similar combinations. 
The reliefs of the Egyptians are not as successful as their figures; for it 
is obvious that their artists strove to represent every member of the body 
as complete as possible. Hence in Egyptian reliefs we often have in the 
same figure a side view of the head, a front view of the breast, and a side 
view of the haunches and legs. A front view of the face seldom oecurs, in 
religious reliefs never. In representations connected with religious worship 
a constant type for the positions was soon established, which perpetually 
recurs. The action is freer in representations of domestic life and the like; 
the most awkward are those of battle-scenes, and in general where the 
subject demands figures on various levels and consequently a perspective 
arrangement. The Egyptian reliefs seldom project from the level surface 
of the wall but mostly from fields which have been hollowed out (koilana- 
glyphs, velzefs en creux). 
In addition to the works of sculpture, we must here also mention, as a 
department of Egyptian art, their works in burnt clay. These exhibit many 
excellent productions, consisting partly of vessels, to which the so-called 
canopuses belong, and partly of small figures coated with a colored enamel 
and mostly very well designed. So too the well known scarabeei, amulets 
worn on a string round the neck, and which are very often found between 
the bandages of mummies, frequently consist of burnt clay, although many 
are of carved stones (amethyst, jasper, lapis lazuli, &c.). Sculptures in 
metal are rare; on the other hand the Egyptians were able to carve 
beautifully in wood, although of this latter material there was no great 
abundance. The sarcophagi of the mummies exhibit many specimens of 
these branches of art. 
If in conclusion we take a retrospective glance at the objects chiefly 
represented, and the manner of their representation, we find that the 
Egyptians were wholly destitute of the impulse to represent that which fills 
and moves the soul because it is beautiful; on the contrary, all their 
representations, excepting the figures of their gods, are purely historical, 
are as it were memories carved in stone, on which account even their. sculp- 
ture is for the most part accompanied by hieroglyphic inscriptions. The 
gods never appear in action, but all the reliefs relate exclusively to their 
worship. To the kings the artists have given as far as possible a portrait 
likeness ; and in the battle scenes the closest accuracy is observed, which 
extends even to the number of the enemy slain and captured, as is also the 
case with the game in hunting and fishing scenes. In the representations 
of domestic employments which are often met with in the tombs, respect is 
always had to the occupations in which the deceased was engaged. The 
mode of contemplating the world natural to the Egyptians, the reflex of a 
cold, jejune intellectual life, gave birth to a style of artistic representation 
which presents the most perfect contrast to the glowing, sensual, and. poetic 
conceptions of the Greeks. 
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