Their interiors are richly decorated with hieroglyphs and paintings signs and symbols that detail the necessary steps to attain immortality. Egypts power and the grandeur that came with it were wellestablished by 2500 bc when the Great Pyramids at giza were built. The sphinx was a philosophy of government set in stone. It depicted the king as fearless, cunning and brave as the lion. And as crucial to egypt as the nile itself. The king was not just a political leader but a religious leader too. In the minds of the ancient egyptians, the pharaohs power and authority as a king stretched far beyond the boundaries of his country and into the cosmos itself. After death, he would escape the earthly bounds of his tomb, board a solar boat and sail into immortality. This vision became material in objects and images found in the tombs and temples as a way of preordaining a central idea after a perilousnd carefully prescribed journey through the night, the king would become one with the sun god re
like anyultivated gentleman of his time, thomas jefferson had a special admiration for raphael. jefferson was in the avant-garde in forming taste for classil architecture and art in america. raphael stood athe summit of that tradition. while serving as minister to france, jefferson purchased art for his collection. included were two copies after raphael. one is now lost, but the other, a copy after a holy family, is still at monticello. a copy adequately represented raphael s style. it also stood as an example of jefferson s taste. but his contemporaries believed that the united states should first develop in a practic direction. benjamin franklin claimed, for example, thatthe invention of a machine is of more importance than a masterpiece by raphael. john adams said, the age of painting and sculpture has not arrived in this country, and i hope it will not arrive soon. i would not give a sixpence for a picture of raphael. nevertheless, admiration for the artist became so g
to the west, in the hills beyond the nile s west bank, the royal tombs of the valley of the kings were cut into limestone cliffs. their interiors are richly decorated with hieroglyphs and paintings signs and symbols that detail the necessary steps to attain immortality. egypt s power and the grandeur that came with it were well-established by 2500 bc when the great pyramids at giza were built. the sphinx was a philosophy of government set in stone. it depicted the king as fearless, cunning and brave as the lion. and as crucial to egypt as the nile itself. the king was not just a political leader but a religious leader too. in the minds of the ancient egyptians, the pharaoh s power and authority as a king stretched far beyond the boundaries of his country and into the cosmos itself. after death, he would escape the earthly bounds of his tomb, board a solar boat and sail into immortality. this vision beme material in objects and images found in the tombs and temples as a way
in the development of taste in collecting, dating back to our beginnings as a nation. ( music ) like any cultivated gentleman his time, thomas jefferson had a special admiration for raphael. jefferson was in the avant-garde in forming theaste for classical architecture d art in america. raphael stood athe summit of that tradition. while serving as minister to france, jefferson purchased art for his collection. included were two copies after raphael. one is now lost, but the other, a copy after a holy family, is still at monticello. a copy adequately represented raphael s style. it also stood as an example of jefferson s taste. but his contemporaries believed that the united states should first develop in a practic direction. benjamin franklin claimed, for example, thatthe invention of a machine is of more importance than a masterpiece by raphael. john adams said, the age of painting and sculpture has not arrived in this country, and i hope it will not arrive soon. i would n