Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/316

 286 A History of Art in Ancient Egypt. more than a silhouette in which the outhne is shown by a hollow instead of by the stroke of a pencil or brush. When more rapid progress than usual had to be made the Egyptian artist was content with this outline. Most of those vast historical and biographical scenes which cover the walls of the Ramesseum and jNIedinet-Abou (Fig. 173, Vol. I.), were executed by it. Tig. 240.— Portrait of Rame. cs II., Louvre. Drawn by Saint-Elmc Gautier. Most of our existing reliefs have come from tombs. In the mastabas their production was easy enough. The sculptor simply carved the faces of their limestone walls. But in the hypogea the difficulties were frequently great, and yet they were always surmounted. The bas-reliefs in such places were, as a rule, on a small scale. Consequently, the knobs of flint and the petrified shells with which the sculptor's chisel was continually coming in contact, must have embarrassed him in no slight degree. Where- eYcr such unkindly lumps were found, they were extracted from