Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/327

 The Principal Coxventioxs ix Egyptiax Sculpture. 297 from the Second Theban Empire. Look, for instance, at the attempt made by an artist in the tomb of Chamhati to show five persons walking almost in line. Instead of being one above another they are on one level (Fig. 24S). One of the five is rather behind the rest ; the head and most of his body are visible. The other four advance to their front. In order that they may all be seen, the sculptor has shown them as they would appear to one standing on their right and slightly in front ; the relief, j; . -^ y^^u ■Or %.^<-^^ 1 1 ' Ml, V i 4^ /A Fig. 248. — Bas-relief from the eighteenth dynasty. From Prisse. therefore, has four planes. The three farther figures are shown by the contours alone. This is perspective, although it is hardly correct. The retreating line of polls sinks as it should, but so do the elbows, and they ought to rise. This relief gives evidence of considerable progress and, suppos- ing it to be the first of its kind, the sculptor who made it would deserve the credit of having breathed a new life into Egyptian art. But he was not the first ; others had made use of the same method, but always within strictly defined limits. It was employed VOL. it. o q