Innovation No. 62 of 77 in the book
The Proportion Grid
Artists used a fixed grid system to keep human figures in consistent scale
- When
- c. 2000 BCE
- Dynasty
- 11th Dynasty
- Era
- Middle Kingdom
Why do Egyptian figures all share the same look? Because artists drew them on a grid — a fixed measuring system for the human body, standardized by around 2000 BCE.
A network of squares set the proportions: so many squares to the knee, the shoulder, the hairline. Any trained artist, anywhere in Egypt, could reproduce a figure in perfect scale.
It is the ancestor of every proportion grid and ‘canon’ artists still use, and of the scaling grids behind drafting and design.
The grid that keeps drawings in proportion was ruled first by Egyptian artists.
The grids survive on the walls of unfinished tombs and temples, among them the Tomb of Horemheb, KV57, in the Valley of the Kings. Draftsmen snapped pigment-coated cords against the wet plaster to leave red or black lines, and in rooms never finished those lines are still visible under the sketches. From the Middle Kingdom to the Late Period, artists held to 18 squares from the soles of the feet to the hairline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the canon ever change?
Once, after nearly two thousand years. In the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Dynasties, around 700 BCE, the grid was expanded to 21 or 22 squares, making the body slimmer and longer — most visibly in the legs.
Why use a grid at all?
So any trained artist anywhere in Egypt could produce a figure at the correct proportions without the master present. It is a specification, which is why the same body appears on walls hundreds of miles apart.