This classic book, first published in 1919, is one of the most
important works of Egyptology, and is of great significance to art
historians, aestheticians, and psychologists working in related fields.
In the ground-breaking study Heinrich Schafer set out to analyse and
elucidate the representational conventions of Egyptian two-dimensional
art, and to explain how they differ from Western conventions that have
perspective at their core. He showed that Egyptian representation is
based more on mental processing than on direct perception, and that the
aim of Egyptian artists was to depict an object as it really is, rather
than as it appears to be. Egyptian approaches to representing space were
also conditioned by this aim. The author extended this fundamental
insight to cover almost all apparent anomalies in the Egyptian rendering
of nature. His conclusions can be compared with analyses by
psychologists that are based on the very different area study of
children's drawings. The observations of Schafer and other art
historians, and those of psychologists, have led to a characterization
of polar tendencies in pictorial representation that might be termed
'conceptual' and 'perceptual'. Schafer extended his conclusions, which
were based on painting and relief, to encompass statuary, as well as
providing a concluding synthesis. The present book, based on the fourth
German edition of 1963, edited after the author's death by Emma
Brunner-Traut, was first published in 1974. In the course of translating
it, John Baines, who is Professor of Egyptology in the University of
Oxford, revised the text and illustrations to take account of recent
research. This reprint incorporates numerous additions and some
corrections, keeping the book abreast of work in the field.