Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/239

 Sculpture under the Ancient Empire. 2 I I Marietta brought all these figures to Paris in 1878, where they excited the greatest interest among artists and archaeologists. They were eminently well fitted to enlighten those who are able to see and to do away with many rooted prejudices. What an abyss of diflerence they showed between Egyptian art as it used to be defined some thirty years ago and the reality. The stiffness and rigidity which used to be so universally attributed to the pro- ductions of the sculptors of Memphis and Thebes, were forgotten Fig. 193. — Won an kneading dcugh, Boulak. Drawn by Bourgoin. before their varied motives and free natural attitudes. The whole of these works, in fact, are imbued with a spirit which is diametrically opposed to the unchanging inflexibility which used to be con- sidered the chief characteristic of Egyptian art. They are distinguished by an extraordinary ease of attitude^ and by that curious elasticity of body which still remains one of the most conspicuous physical qualities of the race. " The suppleness of body which distinguished the female fellah