DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27180#0169
THE NEW KINGDOM
Tutankhamen was one of the last. Naturally the indignant
priests made all speed to restore the gods Amenophis thad
cast down and he was persecuted.
He was no Luther; and only a profane cynicism could
think of turning him into a Christ. Objects for comparison
lie nearer to hand. The experiment resembles those playful
quirks which characterize the artistic activities of our own
day, though it contains a certain legitimate residue. The
interesting aspect, to my mind, is his literary and artistic
dilettantism. He celebrated the sun in poems which, if not
among the peaks of the world’s literature, are pretty enough;
and his quickly built residence reminds us of Weimar,
except that the Weimar of Karl August seems more old-
fashioned and sedate. El Amarna is more like the Darm-
stadt of twenty years ago, when the young Grand Duke, for
lack of something better to do, decided to patronize the arts
and crafts. He summoned many artists; and they brought
plenty of artistic notions with them, and built and carved
and painted away until they had turned Darmstadt into
Darm-Athens.
The symbolism of the helmet-skull and bulbous paunch
cast a shadow over the little land, and the cheerful discoverer
of the sun caused a flutter in official circles. Eminent court
dignitaries found themselves obliged to imitate the gestures
of the artists, who now ruled the roost in place of soldiers or
priests; and many an honest fist was clenched in private.
Amenophis was more original and sat in the centre of it all.
Perhaps he set it in motion himself and was not merely
carried along passively; he too, however, was content with a
facade and lived his life in an artistic milieu. His reformation
was art nouveau.
We do not know what deeper influences the sun-cult
may have had, apart from its mischievous consequences for
the kingdom. Its effects on art are more evident. Among
the artists were people of genius who refused to pander to the
Gi
Tutankhamen was one of the last. Naturally the indignant
priests made all speed to restore the gods Amenophis thad
cast down and he was persecuted.
He was no Luther; and only a profane cynicism could
think of turning him into a Christ. Objects for comparison
lie nearer to hand. The experiment resembles those playful
quirks which characterize the artistic activities of our own
day, though it contains a certain legitimate residue. The
interesting aspect, to my mind, is his literary and artistic
dilettantism. He celebrated the sun in poems which, if not
among the peaks of the world’s literature, are pretty enough;
and his quickly built residence reminds us of Weimar,
except that the Weimar of Karl August seems more old-
fashioned and sedate. El Amarna is more like the Darm-
stadt of twenty years ago, when the young Grand Duke, for
lack of something better to do, decided to patronize the arts
and crafts. He summoned many artists; and they brought
plenty of artistic notions with them, and built and carved
and painted away until they had turned Darmstadt into
Darm-Athens.
The symbolism of the helmet-skull and bulbous paunch
cast a shadow over the little land, and the cheerful discoverer
of the sun caused a flutter in official circles. Eminent court
dignitaries found themselves obliged to imitate the gestures
of the artists, who now ruled the roost in place of soldiers or
priests; and many an honest fist was clenched in private.
Amenophis was more original and sat in the centre of it all.
Perhaps he set it in motion himself and was not merely
carried along passively; he too, however, was content with a
facade and lived his life in an artistic milieu. His reformation
was art nouveau.
We do not know what deeper influences the sun-cult
may have had, apart from its mischievous consequences for
the kingdom. Its effects on art are more evident. Among
the artists were people of genius who refused to pander to the
Gi