«Bello come il cielo»: il senso del bello nell’antico Egitto

In ancient Egypt, art and literature conveyed the world view of its ruling-class: it was highly idealized but, being the élite mainly composed by men, it reflected a male point of view. The ideal physical beauty in this male perspective is, since its beginning, that of an eternal youth perfection, at the same time strongly gendered: the idealized female beauty is sensual, erotic, related to a biological model of fertility, and apt to rouse man desire; conversely, men are more interested in a self-presentation irradiating magnetic power and ability to subdue. Texts perfectly echo this aesthetic ideal. Only with the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (1479–1458 /57 BC), usurper of the royal office that Pharaonic mythology and ideology assigned only to men, a new ideal of beauty appears in Egyptian art, inspired by a model of adolescent youth, where gender features are minimized. An analysis of the ancient Egyptian terms expressing the different nuances of beauty completes the essay.