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Show ll0 GENERAL REMARKS ON ICONOGRAPIIY. to this cmTont opinion on the r lative modernness of Egyptian statuary, wore then entertained chiefly by Mr. Birch-who lm<l alrca<ly classHicd, as appertaining to the Ol<l Eropir , variour; arehaic fragm nts in tho British Muscuro,-by Chcv. L psius, when publi!:lhing a few mutilated. statues among the early dynasties of the Denlcmctler,- and by the Vicomto <lo H.o·ug6, who wrote in 1852 ;69 "Trois statues <lola galcrio du Louvre (nos. 36, 37, 38) pr6sentcut un oxccllont Rp6cimcn de la sculpture do cos premiers llgos. Dans cos morccaux, uniques jusqu'ici ot par eousequont inostiroablos, lo type d s hommos a quclquo chose do plus trapu et do plus ru<lo; ]a pose est d'uno gl'an.dc simplicity; quelques pnrtios r n<lcnt la nature avec v6rit6; mais l'on sent deja qu'uno loi hi6r.Ltiquc a r6gl6 los attitudes ot va ravir aux artistes uno partie pr6cicusc de leur liboete." It muRt, therefore, be gratifying to tho authors of tho pro ·urflory volume to tho present, to fi11d their doctrine, "that tho primitive Egyptians w ro nothing more nor loss than- EGYPTIAN ,"00 so incontestably confirmed. by a group of statues which did n t reach PMis for six months after the publication of their researches; ancl we may now rejoice with those archroologists, whose acum u had alr ady foreshadowed. the discovery of beautiful statuary belonging to the early days of the pyramids, that, henceforward., the series of Egyptian art continues, in an unbroken chain, from the 35th century B. C. down to long after tho Christian era. Prince Sl<JPA [Plate m., fig. 1], and his wife NAs, or NESA, [fig. 2], are the fi L'St we shall examine among these statues of the LoLwro; from Lcpsius's copy. 'l'hey arc likewise somewhat clumsy as regards tho general proportions; but parts of tho body, for instance the knees, at'o sculptured with an anatomical correctness sup rior to that of the monuments of the great H.amscs. 'l'ho staLuo of Su.~,.;MKA [Plate IV.] "supet'intondcnt of the royal domains" (IVth or VIth dynasty), seated between tho small-sized standing figures of princ ss A'rA, his wife, and their son KNEM, is an excel] ot illustration of incipient elongation tog thor with gt·catcr elegance of tho artistical canon. In spite of tho awkward composition, it attracts our attention powerfully, since the face teems with life and indivi<luality; whilst tho forms aro correct in the main, but lamentably stumpy and clumsy about tho hands and feet. [See Plate V, fig. 2.] Tho bead of a Priest, PnER-NEFER, or PAliOO-ER-NEFER [Plate V., fig.l ], "Superintendent of the timber-cutters and of agriculture," found together with HEMKA in the same sepulchre, is uncommonly &o Notice de& Monummts expo~~~ dan& la galerie d' antiquitds tgyptienne& (Salle du rez-de-cltau•- 6le), au Mu&le du Louvre, Ptwie, 1852, pp. 7-8. 60 Typc8 of Mankind, p. 245. I 2. SelJ a. j I I Ne~a. 'Louvre Museum.) |