Coptic Art
By Gawdat Gabra
Coptic Art began to emerge in Egypt around 300 A.D. In form, style and content it was quiet different from the art of Pharaonic Egypt. How did this come about? Broadly speaking, there were two causes: The first is that indigenous Egyptian art had been in contact with the art of the ruling elite, a Greek educated minority, for many centuries. The second is that the Pharaonic religion, a major source of inspiration to Egyptian artists for three millennia, had given way to Christianity, a new religion with an entirely different message.
By around 300 A.D. three-dimensional art had almost completely disappeared in Egypt. In fact, the last free-standing sculptures to be produced were those of Roman emperors (usually in the stone known as porphyry). Sculpted figures in early Coptic art, whether of stone, wood or ivory, were carved in a sort of exaggerated raised relief. They usually faced the viewer directly, but they could also be half turning to one side. Over the centuries these figures seem to have become flatter and more like conventional relief. The shift from three-dimensional representation also had an effect on two-dimensional art. Whereas, the usual method of representing the figure in ancient Egypt had been a combination of profile and frontal, Coptic art abandoned the profile and turned the figure around to face the viewer. It is worth pointing out that a great deal of sculpture was originally coated with painted plaster, which would have shown many details that have since disappeared.
The most striking stylistic features of Coptic figurative representation are the exaggerated rounded or oval eyes under relatively thick eyebrows and the contrapposto position (i.e. where the weight of the body is thrown onto one leg). Garments are often represented with details of pleats and folds. The figures range from the tall and slim to the short and thickset. Facial expressions range from the non-committal to the sombre.
The content of art usually reflects the principal interests of those who produce it. A dominant interest in many ancient societies was religion. By the time Coptic art began to emerge, Egypt was rapidly becoming a Christian country, but the old indigenous religion and that of the Greek-educated ruling elite had not yet entirely disappeared. Indeed, there is a substantial amount of Coptic art which features episodes from Greek religious thought, in particular the sculpture of Ahnas (in the Coptic museum) and textiles. The use of such motifs in a Christian context presents something of a problem. Why would Christians want to perpetuate these symbols of a superannuated faith? No definitive answer can be given.
SOURCE : Cairo: The Coptic Museum & Old Churches
BY: Gawdat Gabra
Gawdat Gabra, a former director of the Coptic Museum, is the author or editor of numerous books related to the literary and material culture of Egyptian Christianity, including Coptic Monasteries: Egypt's Monastic Art and Architecture, Christian Egypt: Coptic Art and Monuments through Two Millennia (both AUC Press 2002), and Christianity and Monasticism in the Fayoum Oasis (AUC Press, 2005). He is the co-editor of the three volumes of The Popes of Egypt (vol. I: AUC Press, 2004).