Kroisos Statue Of Ancient Egypt

Two ancient civilizations were separated by almost four-thousand miles and the Mediterranean Sea, yet still seemed to produce two incredibly similar and magnificent works of art. If that is not a worthy feat in itself, the two works of art were also created almost two-thousand years apart from each other before the two civilizations had any sort of major contact with one another. The similarities of the works, despite the time and distance, suggests that Ancient Egypt had more of an impact on Ancient Greece than was previously understood. By looking at these two works of art, a deeper understanding of the relations between the civilizations will be gained and explored in more detail. Art has a way of preserving the past in great detail. However,
The Kroisos statue is a grave marker that seems to be larger than life. The statue was found with an inscription that gave some clues to its origin. The inscription reads “Stop and show pity beside the marker of Kroisos, dead, whom once in battle’s front rank raging Ares destroyed,” (Kroisos Statue). As historians began to piece together the clues that this statue left behind, they found that the nudity of the statue conveyed the heroism that was described in the inscription on the piece. They also found that the statue was smiling the iconic archaic smile from ancient Greece. This smile is supposed to show the lifeforce or the vitality of the person that the statue resembles. There are also many similarities to the statue that was found in Egypt. For example, the body of this person is an ‘ideal’ body. He is perfectly sculpted to show his strength. He is also in the striding pose and is showing some motion in his body movements. His hands are in fists at his side as well (Lecture, 2/14/17). This statue is quite similar to the statue of Menkaure and his
It seems as if the artist from Greece was in direct contact with the artist from Egypt. However, this is impossible due to the time difference. The similarities in the construct of both statues suggests that there was an increase in the amount of communication between the two ancient civilizations. There had to be enough contact for artists to trade tools, processes, and ideas in great detail. It takes much time to teach an artist a particular style and even more time to teach them how to properly imitate that style. This would make sense, since Egypt was closely tied to Greece after Alexander the Great conquered it in the 7th century BCE. Alexander even went on to become the founder of many cities including Alexandria in Egypt. This would have given ancient Greeks many opportunities to come into contact with the ancient Egyptians and learn the craft of the artistic abilities. However, what is interesting is that there was a shift in the artistic style before this contact happened. During the 14th century under king Akhetaten’s reign, the artistic style changed to reflect the Amarna Period and style. Figures became more realistic and less idealized. Shapes became more rounded and elongated and there was less emphasis on gender portrayal as the figures became more androgynous. While this period did not last forever, the artistic style was heavily influenced by this and continued to