Symbol and Magic in Egyptian Art.

Described as the first-ever thematic guide to the magical symbolism underlying Egyptian art, this book's text and many illustrations allow the reader to see and understand the emotive power that visual symbols meant to the ancient Egyptians. Chapters examine the symbolism of form, size, location, materials, color, numbers, hieroglyphs, actions and body language/gestures. Each chapter provides insights and distinctions that will surprise and inform; for example, the chapter on color examines sources of the Egyptian palette, the connotations of natural, symbolic and conventional colors, meanings behind color interchanges and color representations, and the colors associated with deities and mortals. Each chapter has numerous color and black-and-white photographs of artwork-mostly sculptural forms, bas-reliefs, jewelry and tomb paintings - complemented by delightfully informative line drawings. While planned as a companion volume to the author's earlier work, Reading Egyptian Art (See October 1993, SchoolArts), this volume stands alone as a worthy addition to high school/university libraries.