A walk on the wild side: animal figures and the canon of proportion in Middle Kingdom wall scenes at Meir. Volume 1: Text

This research will aim to shed new light on how the Egyptian artist represented animal figures at the Middle Kingdom site of Meir by examining and testing a convention known as the canon of proportion, which, thus far, has only been connected in detail with the representation of human figures. The animal figures under investigation are cattle, ducks and oryx, with the corpus numbering fifty eight subjects. The study has two major objectives: to gain an understanding of the canon of proportion in relation to animal figures at Meir through an examination of surviving grids along with the application of a hypothetical grid; and to track the development, purpose and continuity of the work processes used when rendering animal figures from the Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom. Based on the examination of existing and hypothetical grids and the identification of consistencies and variations in the horizontal and vertical rendering of animal figures, the study has been able to identify a proportional guide inplace at Meir. 'The study explores the historical and political contexts of the early Middle Kingdom, which appear to have influenced the proportional rendering of animal figures at Meir. These factors include the transmission of artistic models by means of travelling artists, the development of the canon of proportion and local traditions found within Egyptian provinces.