Become a Readings Member to make your shopping experience even easier. Sign in or sign up for free!

Become a Readings Member. Sign in or sign up for free!

Hello Readings Member! Go to the member centre to view your orders, change your details, or view your lists, or sign out.

Hello Readings Member! Go to the member centre or sign out.

Canon and Proportion in Egyptian Art
Paperback

Canon and Proportion in Egyptian Art

$151.99
Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to your wishlist.

This facsimile reissue of the 1975 second edition of Iversen's Canon and Proportion brings back into print a seminal work originally published in 1955. Iversen describes a canon ? that is, a set of rules of proportions ? advanced and used by the artists of Egypt. In order to interpret the stylistic message of the Egyptian system of proportion he undertakes a study of the principles of its construction, an analysis of its modules and presents an unambiguous numerical definition of the ratios governing its units and parts, demonstrating its use with illustrated examples. He contends that much of the art, especially tomb art, was never intended to be seen by mortal eyes and, as such, was designed to follow a set of rules governed by the requirements of religious and cultic traditions rather than purely aesthetic considerations. Painting and sculpture were largely not primarily things of beauty but magical entities fraught with fateful significance. The development and use of a grid for practical application of the system can still be seen in tomb paintings and is demonstrated in the proportional correctness of statues. The system was based on an accurate standardization of the natural relations of the various parts of human anatomy, such as the relation of palm to forearm and forearm to height, expressed in simple numerical terms geometrically reflected in grids based on the fist. Iversen's treatise was not without controversy but this fascinating study remains a hugely important contribution to the interpretation of Egyptian art. AUTHOR: Erik Iversen was an eminent Danish Egyptologist. Born in Copenhagen he was educated at the University of Copenhagen and then studied at Berlin, Oxford and University College London. His particular interests were in Egyptian art and literature and its reception in Europe from classical antiquity through to Romanticism. His publications focused on papyri, philological and lexicographical studies. He died 5 July 2001.

Read More
In Shop
Out of stock
Shipping & Delivery

$9.00 standard shipping within Australia
FREE standard shipping within Australia for orders over $100.00
Express & International shipping calculated at checkout

MORE INFO
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Casemate Publishers
Country
United States
Date
31 January 2026
Pages
134
ISBN
9798888571224

This facsimile reissue of the 1975 second edition of Iversen's Canon and Proportion brings back into print a seminal work originally published in 1955. Iversen describes a canon ? that is, a set of rules of proportions ? advanced and used by the artists of Egypt. In order to interpret the stylistic message of the Egyptian system of proportion he undertakes a study of the principles of its construction, an analysis of its modules and presents an unambiguous numerical definition of the ratios governing its units and parts, demonstrating its use with illustrated examples. He contends that much of the art, especially tomb art, was never intended to be seen by mortal eyes and, as such, was designed to follow a set of rules governed by the requirements of religious and cultic traditions rather than purely aesthetic considerations. Painting and sculpture were largely not primarily things of beauty but magical entities fraught with fateful significance. The development and use of a grid for practical application of the system can still be seen in tomb paintings and is demonstrated in the proportional correctness of statues. The system was based on an accurate standardization of the natural relations of the various parts of human anatomy, such as the relation of palm to forearm and forearm to height, expressed in simple numerical terms geometrically reflected in grids based on the fist. Iversen's treatise was not without controversy but this fascinating study remains a hugely important contribution to the interpretation of Egyptian art. AUTHOR: Erik Iversen was an eminent Danish Egyptologist. Born in Copenhagen he was educated at the University of Copenhagen and then studied at Berlin, Oxford and University College London. His particular interests were in Egyptian art and literature and its reception in Europe from classical antiquity through to Romanticism. His publications focused on papyri, philological and lexicographical studies. He died 5 July 2001.

Read More
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Casemate Publishers
Country
United States
Date
31 January 2026
Pages
134
ISBN
9798888571224