Egyptian sculpture

OLD KINGDOM 53

The figure of Nefert is probably by the same artist. She sits with her arms folded across the lower part of her body. Her dress obviously consists of the usual long garment with shoulder-straps, the straps only being visible. Over this she wears a plain cloak, so thin that the whole modelling of the figure can be seen beneath it; the right hand comes from under the cloak and is laid open against the body, resting on the left arm. Again, the modelling of the figure shows the minute observation of the sculptor; the garment, as in the later period, is thin enough to show the whole of the figure underneath. The Egyptian sculptor at all times admired the human figure shown under drapery; and as more than three thousand years later he was the teacher of the Greek artist, he inculcated the same admiration into his pupil. But the more complex Greek mind preferred a garment full of folds, the complexity of which, though it called forth all his skill to represent, was not permitted to hide the beauty of the form beneath; the more simple Egyptian preferred and represented the straight, simple garment. The lady is slightly younger than her husband, and the face is not so full of character as that of the man. It is a rather sensual face, a woman aware of her own beauty, accustomed to and enjoying a luxurious life. The lips are full and rather thick, the Cupid’s bow of the upper lip is strongly marked. The nose is straight; the level eyebrows are indicated by being raised as a band; they are obviously intended to be represented as painted, for the line is carried towards the temple and continues down to the edge of the orbit. The technique is the same as in that of Ra-hotep. The hair is obviously a wig; it is composed of innumerable twists parted in the middle, and by its very thickness rising up from the parting; the locks fall stiffly on each side of the head to the level of the chin in front, and slightly lower at the back, and are held