DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27180#0084
PYRAMID AND TEMPLE
The man, as usual, is naked down to the inevitable apron,
and his skin bears traces of red-brown paint, whereas the
grey of the other comes nearer the natural colour of the lime-
stone. In any case the other also was originally painted. We
recognize the remains of colour on the breast and hips of the
woman; and this time the pure idea and the material trap-
pings do not conflict. They have replaced the man’s head,
which had come off but was fortunately undamaged. The
wife and one of the sons have lost their heads. The wife, on
the right of the seated figure, and both the sons are consider-
ably smaller. She wears the usual close-fitting garment which
leaves the feet free, and holds her right arm straight in front
of her. With outstretched hand she touches her husband’s
arm. Her other arm disappears behind his shoulder and
embraces him. The two sons stand on either side, to left and
right. All four figures of course look straight in front of them.
The woman and the son near her stand in the same plane as
the upper part of the man, while the other son stands level
with his father’s legs. The only connexion lies in thewoman’s
gesture, and even this does not affect the frontal position of
her body. Moreover, the woman’s right hand does not grasp
her husband’s arm, but merely touches it with the tips of her
unbent and strictly parallel fingers: a conventional gesture
which is often found. The man’s attitude is not in the least
affected by her touching him. He sits solidly there, well
aware that he is sitting for his portrait; his features are fixed
and set. The attitude is important, but other things are
more so. A repressed smile plays on his young face. There
is something beautiful about the man’s physical self-com-
mand. Under its patterned wig his head is balanced on his
broad shoulders; again, the wig, which comes down over his
cheeks, makes an effective setting. His figure tapers gently;
one feels the well-knit athletic body. No fat, no superfluous
muscle, good breeding, health and youthful freshness. We
saw more surprising lines in the great profiles at Sakkara, and
72
The man, as usual, is naked down to the inevitable apron,
and his skin bears traces of red-brown paint, whereas the
grey of the other comes nearer the natural colour of the lime-
stone. In any case the other also was originally painted. We
recognize the remains of colour on the breast and hips of the
woman; and this time the pure idea and the material trap-
pings do not conflict. They have replaced the man’s head,
which had come off but was fortunately undamaged. The
wife and one of the sons have lost their heads. The wife, on
the right of the seated figure, and both the sons are consider-
ably smaller. She wears the usual close-fitting garment which
leaves the feet free, and holds her right arm straight in front
of her. With outstretched hand she touches her husband’s
arm. Her other arm disappears behind his shoulder and
embraces him. The two sons stand on either side, to left and
right. All four figures of course look straight in front of them.
The woman and the son near her stand in the same plane as
the upper part of the man, while the other son stands level
with his father’s legs. The only connexion lies in thewoman’s
gesture, and even this does not affect the frontal position of
her body. Moreover, the woman’s right hand does not grasp
her husband’s arm, but merely touches it with the tips of her
unbent and strictly parallel fingers: a conventional gesture
which is often found. The man’s attitude is not in the least
affected by her touching him. He sits solidly there, well
aware that he is sitting for his portrait; his features are fixed
and set. The attitude is important, but other things are
more so. A repressed smile plays on his young face. There
is something beautiful about the man’s physical self-com-
mand. Under its patterned wig his head is balanced on his
broad shoulders; again, the wig, which comes down over his
cheeks, makes an effective setting. His figure tapers gently;
one feels the well-knit athletic body. No fat, no superfluous
muscle, good breeding, health and youthful freshness. We
saw more surprising lines in the great profiles at Sakkara, and
72