Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/342

 312 A History of Art in Ancient Egypt. and expressiveness of such movements did not escape his obser- vation, but a want of material resources compelled him to forego their reproduction. The truth of these observations is confirmed by the fact that when the chisel came to be used upon less unkindly materials, the Egyptian sculptor shook himself free of more than one of those despotic conventions which tyrannized over the makers of the royal colossi. The wooden statues have no supporting mass at the back or side ; the legs are separated and free ; the arms are no longer fixed to the sides, but are often bent into easy positions (Fig. 7, Vol. I., and Fig. 1 78). We may say the same of bronze (Figs. 179 and 180). We may judge of the freedom which was often given to works in the latter mate- rial by the beautiful little statuette figured upon this page (Fig. 256). The limestone figures are not so free. Convenient instruments for ridding them of superfluous stone were wanting, and, more- over, there was a certain tempta- tion to imitate those statues in the harder rocks which were looked upon as the highest achievements of the national art. The figures w^ere often supported by a mass of stone in which the posterior sur- faces of the legs were imbedded. Sometimes, however, this sup- port was absent, and in that case attitudes became extremely various (Fig. 48, Vol. I., and Figs. 192, 194, 195, Vol. II.), perfect ease and suppleness being often attained. Further con- firmation of our theory is afforded by those little ornamental articles which may be referred to the industrial rather than the fine arts. In them we find the ficrures of men and animals intro- duced with the most playful and easy skill. The spontaneity of their grouping and the facility with which the most lively actions are pressed into the service of the artist, are remarkable. The graceful and almost athletic figures of swimming girls which form Fig. 256. — Bi-onze statuette. Boulak. Actual size.