Adam Rasmussen: The Holy Image

An interesting example in Sacred and Profane Beauty describing pictoral art as representation is the explanation of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamen. The Egyptians understood that that a work of art and even people are representations of something greater. The name Tutankhamen literally translates to the living image of the god Amon. The king is literally a living image of a god and Tut actually means statue. Van Der Leeuw talks about how the king represents the god through his living body. The Egyptians thought that this representation worked both ways. When a person died, they believed that their ka, or soul, was literally represented by small statues that are put in the tombs of kings. These statues were treated as if they were real people, they were given food, talked to and other acts were preformed in order to make sure they could be reincarnated later. This interpretation is very intriguing and it is interesting to think that the Egyptians really believed that the energy of one thing can be tied into its representation. The god is connected to its representation in the king – literally a living statue, the man is connected through his representation in the physical statue.