One change in the Amarna Age art was purely mechanical. Sunken relief
replaces the traditional raised relief in the ornamentation of the rock
tombs. Davies comments on the technique:
The rock in which they are hewn is far from having the uniform good
quality which would invite bas-reliefs of the usual kind. Nor was
Akhenaton willing, it appears, to employ the flat painting on
plastered walls which was so much in vogue, and which the artists of
Akhetaton also employed at times with good effect. The idea of
modelling in plaster was conceived or adopted; and since figures in
plaster-relief would have been liable to easy injury, the outline was
sunk so far below the general surface as to bring the parts in highest
relief just to its level Nor was this the only measure taken to ensure
durability. The whole design was first cut roughly in sunk-relief in
the stone itself. Then a fine plaster was spread over it, covering all
the inequalities and yet having the support of all points of a solid
stone core. While the plaster was still soft, it was moulded with a
blunt tool into the form and features which the artist desired.
Finally the whole was painted, all the outlines being additionally
marked out in red, frequently with such deviations as to leave the
copyist in dilemma between the painted and the moulded lines.[55]
[Illustration: Amarna Style Head. A relief showing the characteristic
art of the Amarna Age.]
[Illustration: Queen Nofretete. The painted limestone bust shows the
queen wearing a conical blue headdress encircled by a band to which the
uraeus, symbol of royalty, is attached. The bust was found in the
studio of the sculptor Thutmose at Akhetaton.]