For 3000 years the Ancient Egyptian people practiced an art form and style that is almost immediately recognizable as Egyptian. In those 3000 years there was almost no change in the style, meaning of color, or meaning of body placement in a painting, with the exception of the Armarna Period. To the untrained eye it would seem that the Egyptians were a people of little imagination to continue a style for so long, however to those who know anything about Ancient Egyptian art the story is quite complex.
Egyptians used a special code of colors in each painting they did, with each color representing a different quality of the people represented. There were six colors the Ancient Egyptians used in their paintings red, green, blue, yellow, black, and white. They made these colors of mineral compounds and that is why they have lasted so long. The color green was symbolic of new life, growth, vegetation, and fertility. Depictions of Osiris often show him with green skin. Red was the color of power it symbolized life and victory, as well as anger and fire. Red was associated with the god Isis and her blood, which red could also represent. It also represented the God Set who was considered evil and who caused storms. The color blue was the color of the heavens and the water and it symbolized creation and rebirth. The god Amun, who played a part in the creation of the world, is depicted with a blue face. Anything yellow symbolized the eternal and indestructible, the qualities of the sun and gold. It was the color of Ra and of all the pharaohs, which is why the sarcophagi and funeral masks were made of gold to symbolize the eternalness of the pharaoh who was now a god. The color of death was black. Black also represented the underworld and the night. Both the gods Annubis and Osiris were depicted in black as the gods of the embalming and the afterlife respectively. Lastly white was the color of purity, it symbolized all things sacred and simple. Normally used in religious objects and tools used by the priests.
The same way that the colors of Egyptian art meant something so did the position of the figures represented. The figures were usually shown motionless or only walking. See http://www.historylink101.com/lessons/art_history_lessons/egypt_main2.htm for an idea of the common positions and their meanings. There are a few other identifying features of Ancient Egyptian art that are common throughout time. In nearly all paintings the heads of the people were represented from the side with one eye staring out of the side of the face. The arms and legs of the person are also in profile but the mid-body is facing forward. This made the figure look twisted into a position nearly impossible to achieve in reality. Another aspect of the Ancient Egyptian painters was to depict the gods, pharaohs, or other important figures as larger than the other people in the painting to signify their higher importance.
So although it may seem strange to us that the Egyptians didn't change their style for so long it did have a reason. The lack of change, especially in painting commissioned by the pharaoh, connect each ruler to the last and was seen as evidence of that they belonged in this continuing line.
References
http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp
http://www.historylink101.com/lessons/art_history_lessons/egypt_art2.htm
http://www.beyondbooks.com/index.htm
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/life1.htm
Written by Holly Laite. 2002
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