Egyptian sculpture

xx EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE

are more clearly discernible. It is then possible to realise that artistic ideals change and that varying influences are brought to bear, according to the era in which the artist lived.

The art of Greece has been subjected to an intensive study for many generations; the style of each great artist is known and his work can be recognised. The length of time in which the finest Greek art flourished can be counted but by centuries, whereas Egyptian art lasted as many thousands of years as the Greek did hundreds. At present, therefore, it is only possible to divide Egyptian art into periods: within those periods it can again be divided into the different schools which arose according to the material in which the artist worked. The number of signed pieces can be counted on the fingers of one hand, so that it is impossible as yet to identify any two pieces of sculpture as being by the same artist. There is also the difficulty, which does not arise in Greece, that a statue was not necessarily made in one piece, and that the separate pieces were often carved by different hands; just as in a mediaeval studio a painting was executed by the master and his students. When, however, the same intensive study and scrutiny are applied to Egyptian as to Greek and mediaeval art, it is very certain that many identifications will be made, and our knowledge of Egyptian artists and their individual methods will be greatly increased. In the meantime, all that can be done is to enable a student to recognise by certain broad indications the period of a great number of statues and reliefs. Beyond that, each student must work for himself and make his own observations; the field is wide, observers at present are very few, but it is a work which would well repay the investigator.

Though the chronology of Egypt is still a controversial