Why Ancient Egyptian art was never meant to be realistic
We often mistake Pharaonic art for true portraiture. This lecture explores why these iconic faces were not intended as lifelike likenesses, and how modern facial reconstruction attempts to bridge that gap.
While the focus on the human face in Egyptian art creates a sense of familiarity, the goal was never mimetic accuracy. Dr. Campbell Price examines how this misconception persists in a modern era saturated with self-image. The lecture traces how scholars like Amelia Edwards and Flinders Petrie reacted to these depictions and evaluates the contemporary trend of using facial reconstruction to recreate an imagined past.
Dr. Price, Curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum since 2011, brings expertise from his work at sites such as Saqqara and Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham to discuss the reconstruction of Ancient Egypt.
Source: Spotlight Lecture: Imagining Ancient Egyptian Faces
