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New Kingdom Arts:

After these foreign rulers were expelled, Egypt entered one of it's most grand periods, the New Kingdom. The grand art of this period actually varied considerably so that we have the very formal art found in the great temples such as Karnak and Luxor, the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and the private artisans' tombs at Deir el-Medina, with their intimate details. Art during this period also varied because of radical religious changes, such as the Amarna period which resulted in a dramatic change in art styles.. 

After the New Kingdom, the rapidly changing artistic styles of the first millennium BC demonstrate that Egyptian art could assimilate new possibilities while retaining its essential character and integrity. During the Late Period, when Egypt had really already lost much of its prestige, Egyptians attempted to revive the classic images of the Old and Middle Kingdom, which must have symbolized a lost sense of stability and certainly. Then, after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander The Great, the nature of Pharaonic art was adapted to create a compromise between the needs of the native Egyptians and the preferences of the New Greek, and later Roman rulers. Though from this period we have some of the largest surviving religious buildings, the reliefs were beginning to appear mass produced and repetitive, and the artwork was increasingly poorly formulated and executed. However, at the same time, there were new cultural elements absorbed from the Mediterranean word, such as the Fayoum mummy paintings. 

Most all three-dimensional representations, whether standing, seated or kneeling, exhibit what is called frontality. That is, they face straight ahead, even though at times they may be striding. Were it not for our understanding of their purpose, it might be easy to criticize their rigidity that remained unchanged for three thousand years, particularly when viewed outside of their original context. However, such statues were not produced as pure art, but rather to play a primary role in the cults of the gods, kings and the dead. They were places in which these beings could manifest themselves in order to be the recipients of ritual actions. Hence, it made perfect sense to show the statue looking forward at what was happening in front of it, so that the living could interact with the divine or deceased recipient.