WATANI International
17 October 2010
Mural depiction is one of the most ancient drawing techniques known to man. This art is first seen in the Stone Age which began about 300,000 years ago; artists used rocks and cave walls as a canvas for paintings, fine examples of which have been found in the Lascaux caves in France which were discovered in 1940. These contained exceptionally fine Palaeolithic wall paintings and engravings thought to date to the Magdalenian era (13,000 – 8500 BC).
Egypt has more than its share of murals, albeit from a later period. The area of al-Gilf al-Kabir on the southern-westernmost corner of Egypt, at its borders with Sudan and Lybia, is home to unquestionably one of the richest storehouses of prehistoric rock art in the world. The site, which dates back to more than 7000 years, not only includes some stunningly beautiful paintings, but also engravings for which the sandstone rocks provided suitable surfaces. The scenes of pastoral life must have been generated after 6000BC, the generally accepted time for the appearance of domesticated cattle in the area.
Vitality and dynamism
Yusri Younan Tawadros, general manager of Cairo museums restoration, says wall paintings were possible whenever colour pigments were found, and that even the relief engravings were filled with coloured paste. Apart from the rock painting, the Nile Valley has been home to some beautiful specimens of wall engravings. The most famous of this kind of painting is the depiction of six geese now on display at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, Cairo, which was moved from the Fourth Dynasty (2575 – 2551 BC) tomb of the wife of Neferma’at. The wall engravings in the Beni Hassan tombs in Minya, Upper Egypt, are also some of the best productions of the Middle Kingdom (2040 – 1640 BC), which are characterised by their vitality, dynamism and imitation of nature. Famous among them are depictions of agricultural activity, fishing, and sports.
At the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty (1991 – 1783 BC), artists used a style of depiction that was not concerned with shade and light, but was only interested in creating an outline and filling the area with colours.
During the Amarna Period (1353 – 1335BC), artists tended towards landscape, concerning themselves with fine details of ornaments and of animals and plants.
Most murals date from the New Kingdom (1550 – 1070 BC), when they replaced coloured engravings. The best of these are those found in the Tombs of the Nobles in Thebes, which depicted various scenes from the nobles’ lives.
‘Bosom of the Father’
Following the introduction of Christianity to Egypt, Coptic artists cared about ornamentation and decoration of churches; walls and ceilings were covered with scenes of Christ’s life, His disciples and saints, as well as biblical scenes.
Since the altars are the holiest places in any church, Coptic artists were mostly concerned with wall paintings in that part of the church. Altars in the Eastern Church are always on the eastern side before a curved, semicircular and cavernous wall on which Jesus Christ is depicted sitting on His throne surrounded by the four beasts mentioned in the Revelations of St John. Copts term this niche the “Bosom of the Father” that is open to the whole world.