FREE ESSAY ON METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Museum Research Paper
During my trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I observed many interesting paintings,
sculptures, and artifacts. The two exhibits I chose to do my report on were "Anonymous
Official", from the thirteenth dynasty in Egypt, (1783 B.C.), and "Head from a Herm" from
the early Greek civilization, (first quarter of the fifth century). (The Metropolitan
Museum of Art Guide, Howard, pg. 306) I chose these two particular exhibits because of
their faces. The way the human face is portrayed is an excellent way to figure out how
humans were perceived in these specific time periods. You can compare the two different
faces from the two different time periods, and compare and contrast the two time periods.

The Egyptian and the Greek time periods were, to me, the most interesting of all the
others we have studied. Many of the philosophies and governmental policies that were used
then, are still used today. The Greeks had first used democracy, and the Egyptians
believed in monotheism, which is the belief that there is only one god, which many
Americans believe today. While we may have adapted beliefs and governmental policies from
these time periods, they were very different from each other. The way that the two
civilizations classify their leaders is a good example.
The sculpture of "Anonymous Official" is the upper torso of an Egyptian man. This man's
face has deep facial furrows and almond shaped eyes. The sculpture also has a straight
nose and a narrow chin. These facial features are the way that Egyptians depicted
normalcy. There was a second sculpture, identical to the first one that was believed to
be a relative of the man because they were found together and they looked so very
similar. 
The Egyptians were a very isolated culture. They did not like foreigners to impede on
their land. The Egyptian rule was broken down into three subdivisions of time. The first
was the Old Kingdom (3000-2155 B.C.), followed by the Middle Kingdom (2134-1785 B.C.),
and ending with the New Kingdom (1500-1162 B.C.). The sculpture of the "Anonymous
Official" was created in the Middle Kingdom time period. During the period of Egyptian
rule a Pharaoh was considered to be the highest plateau that a man could reach. If you
were a Pharaoh you were considered divine. This belief that the Egyptians had, of the
Pharaoh, was reflected in their art. Sculptures of the Pharaohs were perfect figures. The
figures had wide over expressed eyes, which were considered to be holy. This is why a
sculpture of King Tutankhamun would have the wide expressed eyes. Unlike any sculptures
of people outside the circle of Egyptian culture.
It is very rare to find an artifact from this time period. Many of the cities were raided
and destroyed by the people from the West. It was because of these raids that Egyptians
were hostile towards outsiders. The one part of the Egyptian culture that did survive,
were the tombs. These tombs are where we get the majority of our information on the
Middle Kingdom time period. These tombs are the link to the world of the dead.
The sculpture "Head from a Herm" is believed to be depicted from the Greek god, Hermes.
The head is also believed to have come from some sort of Greek sphinx. The face of this
sculpture is very defined. The sculpture has hair on it, which seems to be the style of
that time period. The way the face is defined conforms to the Greek push to be perfect.
All poses of Greek art are marked by passion and violence. (The Art of Art History,
Preziosi, pg.35) 
During the Greek period, a great belief in mythology came about. All the stories of Zeus,
Aphrodite, and Aries came from this Greek time period. This sculpture of a man's head is
one of the many dedicated to the Greek gods. All in all, the things that the Greeks made
their highest priorities were life, religion, art, and the perfection of all of these.
If you were to compare and contrast the two sculptures, "Anonymous Official" and "Head
from a Herm", you could start by comparing their cultural backgrounds. Both the Egyptian
and the Greek empires, at their prime, were very powerful and both are, to this day, very
respected for what they had accomplished. For the most part, that is where the
similarities end. Besides the different governments of the two civilizations, and their
art, the Greeks and the Egyptians also differed in their architecture. The Egyptians had
pyramids that were very bland on the outside, and had many rooms inside, while the Greeks
showed off their talent on the outside of many of their buildings. Greek buildings had
giant pillars and sculptures to decorate the outside. The inside of a Greek palace was
one big open room, where people would gather to pray. 
Another major difference between these civilizations was the way that each group
perceived their rulers. The Greeks put their rulers on high pedestals, but in the Greek
culture, areas started to develop called city-states. City-states were large,
independently run provinces. Each of these city-states had their own ruler. This brought
attention away from the rulers, and made the gods the highest form of life, hence the
artwork. (Greece, God, and Art, Liberman, pg.89)
There were myths about people putting themselves on the same level of the gods and paying
the price for it. Also, for the first time in history, the people began to depict their
gods as human-like creatures, with human flaws such as jealousy and hatred. This differs
from the Egyptian way of thinking that the ruler (pharaoh) was a divine creature. No
Egyptian would disagree with the pharaoh, because he was the messenger of God. (Gods and
Pharaohs from Egyptian Mythology, Harris, pg.151)
If you were to compare the actual formal elements of these two sculptures, you could come
up with conclusions of what styles and life were like during these civilizations. The
"Anonymous Official" had very exaggerated features. The eyes were almond-shaped, and the
face gave an impression that this person was unrealistic, or almost god-like. On the
other hand, the Greek sculpture of the man's head was much more realistic in the man's
features. His stare did not look absent, compared to the Egyptian work, and he was
depicted as a normal man, and not as god-like. You can tell that this is a man and he was
made to be stately. As far as the Egyptian sculpture, if you were not told, then you
would never know that the sculpture was depicting an actual man. This is because of the
lack of features in Egyptian art. (Howard, pg.155)
When you look at art, it is hard to get a true feeling of why the artist made the work a
certain way. If you do not study the iconography, and the cultural background of the
work, you have to hypothesize about its origins. In the past, I have gone to museums and
looked at the art, and wondered to myself, "What in the world is this?" It is not until
now that I truly know a way to get inside the artist's head. If there is one thing that
will never change about art, it is the fact that it will always reflect its time period
and civilization, good or bad. 
Bibliography
Bibliography
Harris, Geraldine, Gods and Pharaohs from Egyptian Mythology, Peter Bedrick Books, New
York, 1981.
Howard, Kathleen, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, 1994.
Liberman, Alexander, Greece, God, and Art, The Viking Press, New York, 1968.
Preziosi, Donald, The Art of Art History: A Critical Anthology, Oxford University Press,
New York, 1998.
Stokstad, Marilyn, Art: A Brief History, Prentice Hall, New York, 2000.