The Art of Ancient Egypt | Publications for Educators | Explore & Learn

Artists-Craftsmen

In ancient Egypt artists were basically craftsmen. There is, for instance, no separate word distinguishing sculptors and painters as a group from furniture makers and potters. On rare occasions designers of tomb reliefs were depicted and their names mentioned, and there are a few inscriptions in which certain named artists claim to have been special favorites of the king. But as a rule artists worked like any other craftsmen in a workshop and were dependent on the royal household, a temple, or the household of a dignitary to provide the raw materials, place of work, and the directives as to what works had to be created.

The workshops--as with everything in Egypt--were hierarchically structured, with assistants and apprentices under the supervision of foremen and master craftsmen. Within the workshop there was division of labor. For instance, in the relief decoration of a tomb, a designer/draftsman would first determine the general layout and draw the outlines of the figures. Then relief sculptors carved the figures, with one group sculpting only the outlines and the next group modeling the interior details of the figures. Finally, painters colored the reliefs. In each group a master, or several masters, instructed and corrected the subordinate under them, perhaps drawing or carving important figures or parts of scenes themselves.

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Sculptors polishing a colossal statue of Thutmosis III and a scribe drawing outlines for inscriptions to be carved on the back pillar.
Line drawing after a painting in the tomb of Rekhmire.

Since representations of sculptors creating statues in the round usually show several people at work on the same piece, it becomes a complicated matter to talk about "the" artist of a particular Egyptian work of art. In general, sculptures, reliefs, and paintings can be grouped as works from a particular workshop by their style and composition. Occasionally individual artists' "hands" might perhaps be detectable, but only after very detailed study.

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