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Concept
Amarna art
Summary
Amarna art, or the Amarna style, is a style adopted in the Amarna Period during and just after the reign of Akhenaten (r. 1351–1334 BC) in the late Eighteenth Dynasty, during the New Kingdom. Whereas Ancient Egyptian art was famously slow to change, the Amarna style was a significant and sudden break from its predecessors both in the style of depictions, especially of people, and the subject matter. The artistic shift appears to be related to the king's religious reforms centering on the monotheistic or monolatric worship of the Aten, the disc of the Sun, as giver of life.
Like Akhenaten's religious reforms, his preferred art style was abandoned after the end of his reign. By the reign of Tutankhamun, both the pre-Amarna religion and art style had been restored.
Shortly after taking the throne, Amenhotep IV adopted a policy of religious reform centering on the Aten. While it is not clear if he held that the Aten was the only god (monotheism), he clearly regarded it as the only deity worthy of his worship (monolatry). To pay homage to his chosen god, Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten.
Throughout his rule, Akenaten tried to change many aspects of Egyptian culture to celebrate or praise his god. He moved the royal capital to the city now known as Amarna and erected a number of palaces and temples there. He also extended his reforms to the style and usage of art.
The end of the Amarna period is unclear, as records from the time are sketchy. However, it is clear that around the beginning of the reign of Tutankhamun, about four years after Akhenaten's death, conservative forces led by the temple priests reimposed the old religion. The new capital was abandoned, and traces of his monuments elsewhere defaced. Remains of Amarna art are therefore concentrated in Amarna itself, with other remains at Karnak, where large reliefs in the style were dismantled, and the blocks turned round to face inwards when a later building was constructed using them. These were only rediscovered in recent decades.
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