Beyond The Nile at the Getty

Back in the last century, say 40 years ago, undergraduate classes at university typically used Janson’s History of Art, a heavy book of color plates and clear definitions. That approach to art history is dissolving with recent scholarship and an exhibition at the Getty Museum, Beyond The Nile: Egypt and the Classical World is an excellent example. It demonstrates the influence of Egyptian culture on Greece and Rome for more than a millenium.

230 x W: 94 x D: 105 cm, 4000 kg (90 9/16 x 37 x 41 5/16in., 4 tons 818.4 lb.) Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden. National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden

The first dramatic presentation in the show is a pair of figurative sculptures. An Egyptian priest carved in limestone stands in a stiff, frontal pose, eyes open and wearing a loin cloth. Dated from between 664 and 610 B.C., the pose of the tomb sculpture is almost identical to that of a Greek Kouros from 520 B.C. While the Greek figure is more naturalistic, with arms bent at the elbows, muscled and full frontal in nudity, the artist was imitating the Egyptian precedent. Both pieces are presented in a dimly lit gallery next to a huge basalt sarcophagus made around 600 B.C. for a highly placed Egyptian official born to Greek parents. And all three pieces inspire awe.

California Science Center.

But the show does feature an early Cleopatra. A relief from the Karnak Temple portrays Ptolemy VIII, who we learn was simultaneously married to his sister, Cleopatra II, and her daughter, Cleopatra III. And, yes, there are busts of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, carved in the dark stone popular in Egypt.

From 30 B.C to A.D. 300, the Romans ruled Egypt and, like the Ptolemies, the leaders represented themselves in the guise of Pharoahs to a populace of Egyptians and Greeks living in the region. The newly powerful Romans were impressed by the traditions, and wealth, found in Egypt and brought sculptures and mosaics back to Rome, where they were used as decoration at villas.

Even Egyptian deities, such as Isis, gained popularity in the Roman Empire, especially around the Bay of Naples. One such goddess from the first century A.D. stood in the portico of her temple in Pompeii, carved in the manner of archaic Greek sculpture, while wearing a flowing dress and carrying her symbol, the ankh. The Emperor Domitian in the second century A.D. had himself carved as a Pharoah and erected a temple to Isis with two hieroglyph covered obelisks. One of them is on loan and stands in the entrance of the Getty Museum.

H: 100 × W: 26 × D: 20 cm, 80 kg (39 3/8 × 10 1/4 × 7 7/8 in., 176.368 lb.) Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli Su concessione del Ministero dei Beni delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo. Napoli, Museo Archeologico Nazionale

The Romans themselves soon produced works of art and decoration in the Egyptian style. Nilotic landscapes were frescoed on villa walls, sculptures of crocodiles and hippopotami were installed in private gardens. The show includes a granite vase carved with such scenes that was found at the Roman Emperor Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli.