I know that there are different historical periods of art in which certain styles come in and out of popularity, but why does it seem like all ancient Egyptian art is done in the exact same style for all of its history?
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Because it served as a communication method more than as art.. Ask yourself why all English books are written in the same language and look mostly the same. The writings (hieroglyphics) were to preserve their history and beliefs, it just looks like art to people who don’t understand it. Same way Chinese or Japanese symbols look more like art than a language.
I mean… is it, though? Or do you just not know what to look for? I’m less familiar with Egyptian art forms than with Greek, but with the ancient Greek stuff, people say the painted pottery all feels kind of same-y, until you point out, *did you notice how some of it, the people are painted in black slip on a red background, and others, they’re painted by scraping way the black to reveal red underneath?*
this is not as true as it appears to be, because most of the art we have from ancient Egypt (especially the well-preserved stuff that still looks mostly like it used to) is from very late in Egyptian history. but there is still a decent bit of similarity.
the best analogy I can think of is Washington, D.C. if you look at the most important governmental buildings in the US, they all look neoclassical; they are designed to look as if they might be standing on the acropolis next to the Parthenon. this is because we here in America see political legitimacy as inherently tied to democracy (and the people who invented it). this also means that, on some level, we think that political legitimacy looks like Athens and Rome.
in the same way, ancient Egyptians thought that political legitimacy looks like Pharaohs. Even when there were foreign conquerors, they had to put on the Pharaoh outfit in order to rule. There are stories of the Macedonian 33rd Dynasty, in the second century BC, where Ptolemy the VI wore a traditional Greek diadem outside of Egypt. However, when he was in Egypt, he had to wear the double crown of Menes. That crown, symbolizing the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, had first been created 3000 years before. The crown, the hieroglyphics, the pyramids, these were all fashion statements. Unlike modern fashion, which usually seeks to be new and innovative, Pharaonic fashion strove towards continuity and consistency.
Short answer: It’s absolutely not.
Longer answer:
I’d recommend looking into Middle Kingdom sculpture for starters. You will see some hyper realistic portraits of pharaohs such as Senwosret, and these sculptures are over a thousand years older than some of the other works I’ll bring up. When looking at some of these sculptures, it’s like you’re looking at the actual pharaoh rather than an idealized version done in the typical style of the era. If you look at a typical portrait of Hatshepsut, for example, you won’t feel like you’re seeing the actual woman, but a sculpture of Senwosret is actually more similar to Roman veristic sculpture which didn’t come until 2,000 years after the sculpture of Senwosret.
Next, check out Fayum portraits (also known as mummy portraits). These were done about 2,000 years after the Middle Kingdom sculptures, during the Roman era. They are paintings, clearly influenced by Greco-Roman painting styles. These will give you a very clear look at the person whose body is mummified within the coffin.
Even within the relief sculptures found in tombs throughout Egypt, there are very distinct styles that formed over the millennia. For some very brief examples, you may wish to look at mastaba reliefs from the old kingdom and then reliefs from the Amarna period. Everything from the craftsmanship, visual styles, iconography, etc. is quite varied between periods of Egyptian art.
You may also wish to watch some of John Romer’s documentaries about ancient Egypt, particularly the one about Deir-el-Medina, an ancient village of artisans who were responsible for the carvings/paintings within the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Egypt is often presented in mainstream documentaries and books as this highly mysterious period of history that we know very little about, but that is hardly the case and Deir-el-Medina is a great example of that. We know the names of the residents, which homes they lived in, who they fell in love with, how they experienced things like love, childbirth, etc. There is actually very little mystery surrounding these people and that is such a beautiful thing.
Check out this video explaining the reasons and some of the differences in Egyptian art: https://youtu.be/GLqYUeNH98o
Why is 99% of fan art cross-eyed manga girls? Fads sometimes become tradition.
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