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Foreign News
April 1, 1830
Daily Richmond Whig
Richmond, Virginia
What is this article about?
In a letter from Thebes, Champollion asserts that Egyptian art originated independently and influenced early Greek art through colonies, predating Greek achievements by millennia. He references bas-reliefs from 1700 years before Christ and the over 3500-year-old Menouf monument sculptures.
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Full Text
Champollion, the famous explorer of Egyptian antiquities, holds the following language at the end of his nineteenth letter dated Thebes:
"I once more repeat it—Egyptian art owes to itself alone all that it has produced of great, of pure, of beautiful; and, without meaning any offence to the learned persons who make it a matter of religion to believe firmly in the spontaneous generation of the arts in Greece, it is evident to me, as it must be to all who have thoroughly seen Egypt, or have a substantial knowledge of the Egyptian monuments existing in Europe, that the arts commenced in Greece by a servile imitation of the arts of Egypt, much more advanced than is vulgarly believed, at the period at which the first Egyptian colonies came in contact with the savage inhabitants of Attica, or the Peloponnesus. Old Egypt taught the arts to Greece; Greece gave them the most sublime development; but, without Egypt, Greece would probably never have become the classical land of the fine arts. Such is my entire belief on this great problem. I write these lines almost in the presence of bas-reliefs which the Egyptians executed, with the most elegant delicacy of workmanship, 1700 years before the Christian era. What were the Greeks doing then?—But it would require volumes to treat that question; and I have only a letter."
The sculptures of the monument of Menouf are ascertained to be more than three thousand five hundred years old.
"I once more repeat it—Egyptian art owes to itself alone all that it has produced of great, of pure, of beautiful; and, without meaning any offence to the learned persons who make it a matter of religion to believe firmly in the spontaneous generation of the arts in Greece, it is evident to me, as it must be to all who have thoroughly seen Egypt, or have a substantial knowledge of the Egyptian monuments existing in Europe, that the arts commenced in Greece by a servile imitation of the arts of Egypt, much more advanced than is vulgarly believed, at the period at which the first Egyptian colonies came in contact with the savage inhabitants of Attica, or the Peloponnesus. Old Egypt taught the arts to Greece; Greece gave them the most sublime development; but, without Egypt, Greece would probably never have become the classical land of the fine arts. Such is my entire belief on this great problem. I write these lines almost in the presence of bas-reliefs which the Egyptians executed, with the most elegant delicacy of workmanship, 1700 years before the Christian era. What were the Greeks doing then?—But it would require volumes to treat that question; and I have only a letter."
The sculptures of the monument of Menouf are ascertained to be more than three thousand five hundred years old.
What sub-type of article is it?
Archaeology
Art History
What keywords are associated?
Champollion
Egyptian Art
Greek Influence
Thebes
Menouf Monument
Bas Reliefs
What entities or persons were involved?
Champollion
Where did it happen?
Thebes
Foreign News Details
Primary Location
Thebes
Event Date
Dated Thebes
Key Persons
Champollion
Event Details
Champollion states in his nineteenth letter that Egyptian art independently produced great works and influenced Greek art through early colonies in Attica and Peloponnesus; he writes near bas-reliefs from 1700 years before Christ; sculptures of Menouf monument over 3500 years old.