Quotations and uses of Middle Kingdom Art during the Thutmosid Period

peer reviewedThe article aims at characterizing forms and functions of the uses of Middle Kingdom art in royal and court productions during the Thutmosid Period. In order to assess this artistic phenomenon as a conscious revival and not just a survival of the Past and of the tradition, the analysis starts with a brief examination of the disruption that was felt and expressed during the Second Intermediate Period. It then goes on investigating the evolution of the references to Middle Kingdom art from the dawn of the 18th Dynasty to the time of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III, when some sorts of artistic quotations replaced a global renaissance of Middle Kingdom forms of expression. A special attention is paid to the relationship between creativity and archaism under the reign of Hatshepsut, and leads to conclude the article with some theoretical deductions on the study of Ancient Egyptian archaism and a tentative definition of how innovation was conceptualized in Ancient Egyptian culture