Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
Le tableau peint est le principal attrait
English translation:
the painted scene is the main attraction
Added to glossary by
angela3thomas
Jul 8, 2017 19:13
6 yrs ago
French term
Le tableau peint est le principal attrait
Non-PRO
French to English
Art/Literary
Archaeology
ancient art
Hi again!
DOC: 1907 Museum catalog of ancient Egyptian mirrors. Catalog entry.
CONTEXT: 44101. Boîte à miroir. - Bois et ivoire. - (pl. XXIII). Le panneau rectangulaire se subdivise en un tableau principal, au centre de la composition et un panneau secondaire, faisant à l'autre extrémité pendant, par sa décoration, au tympan ci-dessus décrit: on y retrouve en effet, mais en variante, la touffe de papyrus et les deux canards. La touffe est ici un bouquet de cinq campanes haut sur tige, et les canards volent, la tête en bas, dans des directions contraires.
New paragraph:
***Le tableau peint est en même temps le principal attrait de la composition***, non par sa nouveauté, car le sujet en est l'un des plus fréquemment représentés, mais par le charme et la délicatesse de l'exécution. Une jeune fille, nue, parée seulement d'un collier et de bracelets aux poignets, aux bras, aux avant-bras et aux chevilles, s'avance tenant de la main gauche le long rameau qui paraît être l'une des formes du bouquet égyptien, celle même qui était usitée dans les rites religieux, tandis qu'elle présente de la main droite un non moins bizarre arrangement végétal, en forme de gousse plus renflée à la base et très amincie et infléchie à l'autre extrémité, qui se termine par une campane, représentation aussi conventionnelle que celle du GLYPH. More about the girl follows. Then with the new paragraph comes the description of the mirror disk which was found in the box. COLOR PHOTO AT:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vsTHNyj6BK8/VaYHwjyjTuI/AAAAAAAAsj...
ATTEMPT: Meanwhile the painted drawing/painting of the outline? is the highlight of the composition, not because of its novelty, since its subject is one of the most frequently represented, but because of the charm and delicacy of its execution.
ISSUE: Since painted scene/illustration nor painted tablet/panel doesn't make any sense here, I'm thinking that it could rather be about the outline drawn with a paintbrush? Or am I missing the boat completely?
Thank you in advance for any clarification!
DOC: 1907 Museum catalog of ancient Egyptian mirrors. Catalog entry.
CONTEXT: 44101. Boîte à miroir. - Bois et ivoire. - (pl. XXIII). Le panneau rectangulaire se subdivise en un tableau principal, au centre de la composition et un panneau secondaire, faisant à l'autre extrémité pendant, par sa décoration, au tympan ci-dessus décrit: on y retrouve en effet, mais en variante, la touffe de papyrus et les deux canards. La touffe est ici un bouquet de cinq campanes haut sur tige, et les canards volent, la tête en bas, dans des directions contraires.
New paragraph:
***Le tableau peint est en même temps le principal attrait de la composition***, non par sa nouveauté, car le sujet en est l'un des plus fréquemment représentés, mais par le charme et la délicatesse de l'exécution. Une jeune fille, nue, parée seulement d'un collier et de bracelets aux poignets, aux bras, aux avant-bras et aux chevilles, s'avance tenant de la main gauche le long rameau qui paraît être l'une des formes du bouquet égyptien, celle même qui était usitée dans les rites religieux, tandis qu'elle présente de la main droite un non moins bizarre arrangement végétal, en forme de gousse plus renflée à la base et très amincie et infléchie à l'autre extrémité, qui se termine par une campane, représentation aussi conventionnelle que celle du GLYPH. More about the girl follows. Then with the new paragraph comes the description of the mirror disk which was found in the box. COLOR PHOTO AT:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vsTHNyj6BK8/VaYHwjyjTuI/AAAAAAAAsj...
ATTEMPT: Meanwhile the painted drawing/painting of the outline? is the highlight of the composition, not because of its novelty, since its subject is one of the most frequently represented, but because of the charm and delicacy of its execution.
ISSUE: Since painted scene/illustration nor painted tablet/panel doesn't make any sense here, I'm thinking that it could rather be about the outline drawn with a paintbrush? Or am I missing the boat completely?
Thank you in advance for any clarification!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +3 | the painted scene is the main attraction |
Tony M
|
| 4 | It is the painted scene with the young woman which is the primary focus... |
Christopher Crockett
|
Change log
Jul 8, 2017 22:21: Rachel Fell changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:
Non-PRO (3): writeaway, Nikki Scott-Despaigne, Rachel Fell
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Proposed translations
+3
29 mins
Selected
the painted scene is the main attraction
I don't see anything wrong with your 'painted scene' — it is a scene or picture and it is painted, so KIS!
As for 'the main attraction', you can take that any way you like; but I'd avoid 'composition', since the 'composition' (i.e. arrangement of the elements) is only one aspect of the picture as a whole.
Now I've looked at the plate, it makes sense of the whole thing: the rectangular block at the bottom does indeed 'echo' the large circular part at the opposite end — I hadn't imagined this thing having 'length' to it. To me, the ducks aren't actually flying, but just have their wings spread... with their heads pointing down.
As for 'the main attraction', you can take that any way you like; but I'd avoid 'composition', since the 'composition' (i.e. arrangement of the elements) is only one aspect of the picture as a whole.
Now I've looked at the plate, it makes sense of the whole thing: the rectangular block at the bottom does indeed 'echo' the large circular part at the opposite end — I hadn't imagined this thing having 'length' to it. To me, the ducks aren't actually flying, but just have their wings spread... with their heads pointing down.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you all. I was really confused! The small objects must be the nests with three eggs as on the tympanum."
1 day 20 hrs
Christopher Crockett
Native in English
Specializes in field
M.A., Ph.D. Historian/Art Historian
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
131
It is the painted scene with the young woman which is the primary focus...
of our attention within the overall composition, not because of the novelty of the subject (since that subject is one of the most frequently represented), but because of the charm and delicacy of its execution.
I take Tony's point re "composition" but think that that word does not apply here to just the composition of the main scene but rather to the decoration of this lid as a whole; within that overall composition (of lotus plants, ducks, etc.) it is the central scene with the young woman (the owner of the mirror & its box?) which is the primary focus of our attention.
And, as Bénéditi suggests, there are "religious" overtones to what she is actually engaged in doing there: inhaling the delicious bouquet of the sacred lotus flower.
That specific action is, of course, one which is very commonly depicted in innumerable mural paintings and relief sculptures of both gods and pharaohs; it seems that the Egyptians were really into characterizing the sweet *aroma* of the Eternal World (in the West) where the deceased would live in eternity, and surely that olfactory experience must have had a quasi-liturgical significance.
In that belief system, we must realize there would have been, theoretically, quite a contrast between the [just plain stinky] smells of the actual phenomenal world which mere mortals inhabit and the delicious aromas present in the After World where the Eternals dwelt.
It is no accident that offerings of lotus flowers and incense are constant themes in the "art" of temples and tombs; and enjoying the fragrance of those flowers was symbolic of the enjoyment to be experienced --by both the gods and deceased mortals-- in the Egyptian conception of the Eternal Paradise found in the West.
We must, once again, remember that virtually all (or all?) of these mirrors --and their boxes-- were found in amongst the tomb "furniture" of the deceased, and I persist in the belief that it is a mistake to see them as mere "objets de toilette"; indeed, their primary function (at least before the Late Period) might well have been to capture the very essence of Ra (i.e., Light), the greatest god in the Egyptian pantheon.
https://cowofgold.wikispaces.com/file/view/Lotus-Cultural-an...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Louvres-a...
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Note added at 1 day20 hrs (2017-07-10 15:51:17 GMT) Post-grading
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What's your hurry?
I take Tony's point re "composition" but think that that word does not apply here to just the composition of the main scene but rather to the decoration of this lid as a whole; within that overall composition (of lotus plants, ducks, etc.) it is the central scene with the young woman (the owner of the mirror & its box?) which is the primary focus of our attention.
And, as Bénéditi suggests, there are "religious" overtones to what she is actually engaged in doing there: inhaling the delicious bouquet of the sacred lotus flower.
That specific action is, of course, one which is very commonly depicted in innumerable mural paintings and relief sculptures of both gods and pharaohs; it seems that the Egyptians were really into characterizing the sweet *aroma* of the Eternal World (in the West) where the deceased would live in eternity, and surely that olfactory experience must have had a quasi-liturgical significance.
In that belief system, we must realize there would have been, theoretically, quite a contrast between the [just plain stinky] smells of the actual phenomenal world which mere mortals inhabit and the delicious aromas present in the After World where the Eternals dwelt.
It is no accident that offerings of lotus flowers and incense are constant themes in the "art" of temples and tombs; and enjoying the fragrance of those flowers was symbolic of the enjoyment to be experienced --by both the gods and deceased mortals-- in the Egyptian conception of the Eternal Paradise found in the West.
We must, once again, remember that virtually all (or all?) of these mirrors --and their boxes-- were found in amongst the tomb "furniture" of the deceased, and I persist in the belief that it is a mistake to see them as mere "objets de toilette"; indeed, their primary function (at least before the Late Period) might well have been to capture the very essence of Ra (i.e., Light), the greatest god in the Egyptian pantheon.
https://cowofgold.wikispaces.com/file/view/Lotus-Cultural-an...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Louvres-a...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day20 hrs (2017-07-10 15:51:17 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
What's your hurry?
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