When preparing to carve a statue or decorate a wall, Egyptian artists first drew horizontal and vertical guidelines on the surface so the proportions of the figures would be consistent with the established canon. The result of such measured proportions and relationships was an art of remarkable order and uniformity that maintains the same balance whether in a colossal statue or a figure in hieroglyphic script. The guidelines also helped to arrange rows and groups of figures in a unified manner.
During most of Egyptian history the proportions of the human figure were
related to the width of the palm of the hand. The entire figure from feet to hairline is
eighteen palms high (the top of the head was not included because of the variety of
headdresses and crowns); the face is two palms high. The shoulders are aligned at sixteen
palms from the base of the figure, the elbows align at twelve from the base, and the knees
at six.
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