Art Work Assignment Gifts from the Keftiu

Art Work Article

            The Gifts from the Keftiu, Tomb of Rekhmire painting depicts the tendency of 18^th century Egyptian artists to illustrate the contemporary issues in their societies. Panagiotopoulos (2001) states that in the 18^th century, the portrayal of foreign emissaries presenting valuable gifts to the pharaoh was a pervasive feature of the art scene. The painting was produced during the reign of either Thutmose III or Amenhotep II, around 1479 to 1425 B.C. Accordingly, the Gifts from the Keftiu, Tomb of Rekhmire painting details the presents that the Cretans, also known as the Keftiu by the Egyptians brought to the Pharaoh. The Keftiu were a sea-going populace who had a considerable maritime might which was precipitated by their trading prowess. Other paintings of the era depict the Keftiu presenting the gifts themselves; however, this painting focuses on the subject matter, which are the gifts. Ancient Egyptian paintings sufficiently illustrated the prevailing social affairs of the time. This paper will prove this position by highlighting the political and social hegemony that the ancient Egyptians enjoyed over their neighbors. Ancient Egypt was a highly stratified and organized society and their social systems allowed them to enjoy a superiority over the other civilizations.

            The painting is representative of the painting techniques of the time as it employs tempera on paper. Tempera as a painting style that utilized water-miscible pigments such as egg yolk. Additionally, the Egyptians had just began producing paper using reeds. The technological advancements allowed them to produce detailed paintings like the Gifts from the Keftiu. The painters drew their inspiration from the day to day occurrences in their societies, and these included their feelings of ethnical supremacy over the other people of the time. Consequently, the artistic motivation for producing this painting could have been the political indoctrination of the working class at the time to portray the dominance that the ancient Egyptian civilization enjoyed. Consequently, the people that were regarded as submissive to the Egyptian authority were always shown in paintings as they delivered their tributes and aptly bowed to the King’s authority.

            The Gifts from the Keftiu painting has a high regularity as it seeks to accurately depict the presents that the king received. The artist generously uses gold to paint the items that were gifted. At the time, gold was an important currency for trade, additionally, it was a status symbol and the Keftiu’s wanted to maintain their excellent relations with Egypt by gifting the king the most valuable items. Traditionally, the items were meant to accompany the king to the afterlife, and they were placed in their tombs for that purpose. The painting most likely became a property of the king, and it was also placed in his burial chambers to accompany him to the next world. Therefore, quality was an important issue for the painters, the items they painted had to be as real as possible. The artist uses a golden hue to develop a naturalistic representation of the gifts.

            The painting also includes a few portrayals of animal sculptures. The Egyptian society then was very religious and they believed in a number of gods who controlled every aspect of their lives. Artists used the yellow color to show divinity and the gods. The choice of a particular paint by ancient Egyptian artists was indicative of the person’s wealth and social status (Ikram, 2014). The golden color used could have been symbolic of the era’s economic prosperity. The Egyptians ensured their authority over the other settlements, who in turn offered tributes to the Egyptians.

            The purpose of this painting was to propagandize and assert the cultural and political beliefs of the day. It adheres to the Egyptian artistic values of being orderly and conformist, instead of allowing the artists to be creative and to express themselves. Paintings that depicted human beings were typically scaled to give emphasis on the powerful subjects, and they were often larger than the other people in the paintings. In the Gifts from the Keftiu artwork, the items that were held in high regard like the golden vases are given more emphasis. The painting appears to have been completed after the most valuable gifts had been assembled as there are no other gifts such as cereals or slaves illustrated, yet they were common during the time.

            The ancient Egyptian artists accurately presented the social status quo of their eras. Egyptian art was largely symbolic, and this is manifested in the lack of a scale or a proper perspective. The different colors used held various meanings, and gold was a royal and a divine pigment, mostly used to show prosperity. The paintings employed a grid system where the artists divided the paper into sections and then strove to fit all the aspects of their subject matter onto the picture. Egyptian artistic work was a publicity material for the ruling class and the upper echelons of the society, hence the reason for the disregard of orderliness. The symbolism then served to portray the ruling elite as deities. Consequently, art from the era cannot be described as a movement because it was strictly controlled by the ruling class.

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