History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 6 (of 12) by Gaston Camille Charles Maspero
page 33 of 384 (08%)
page 33 of 384 (08%)
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the wood he succeeded in softening the outline, and removing from the
figure every sharp point. The lady Nehaî is smarter and more graceful, in her close-fitting garment and her mantle thrown over the left elbow; and the artist has given her a more alert pose and resolute air than we find in the stiff carriage of her contemporary Tûî. The little girl in the Turin Museum is a looser work, but where could one find a better example of the lithe delicacy of the young Egyptian maiden of eight or ten years old? We may see her counterpart to-day among the young Nubian girls of the cataract, before they are obliged to wear clothes; there is the same thin chest, the same undeveloped hips, the same meagre thighs, and the same demeanour, at once innocent and audacious. Other statuettes represent matrons, some in tight garments, and with their hair closely confined, others without any garment whatever. [Illustration: 043a.jpg a soldier] Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by M. de Mertens. [Illustration: 043b.jpg STATUE IN THE TURIN MUSEUM] Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Petrie. The Turin example is that of a lady who seems proud of her large ear-rings, and brings one of them into prominence, either to show it off or to satisfy herself that the jewel becomes her: her head is square-shaped, the shoulders narrow, the chest puny, the pose of the arm stiff and awkward, but the eyes have such a joyful openness, and her smile such a self-satisfied expression, that one readily over looks the other defects of the statue. In this collection of miniature figures examples of men are not wanting, and there are instances of old |
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