The art of ancient Egypt that has been handed down to us bears no names of its creators, and yet we value the creations of these unknown masters no less than the works of later centuries, such as statues by Michelangelo or the paintings by Leonardo da Vinci. This book introduces some of the most important masterpieces, ranging from the Old Kingdom during the Third millennium BC to the Roman Period.
The works encompass sculptures, reliefs, sarcophagi, murals, masks, and decorative items, most of them now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but some occupying places of honor as part of the World Cultural Heritage in museums such as the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London, the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Featured works include:
Seated statue of King Djoser
Wood relief of Hesire on a dining table
Statue of a scribe made of various materials
Funerary relief of Aschait
Sphinx of Sesostris III
Robed statue of Cherihotep
Reliefs from the Temple at Carnac
Sarcophagus of Queen Hatshepsut
Murals from Thebes
Seated figure of the goddess Sachmet
Statue of Queen Teje
Head of Akhenaten (Amenophis IV)
Queen Nefertiti
Golden mask of Tutankhamun
Ramses II from Abu Simbel
Horus falcon made of granite
Stone relief from the temple ambulatory at Edfu
About the series
Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art History series features:
approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions
a detailed, illustrated introduction
a selection of the most important works of the epoch, each presented on a two-page spread with a full-page image and accompanying interpretation, as well as a portrait and brief biography of the artist
