Reinterpretação de mitos : as divindades do tribunal de Osíris

Abstract

This investigation’s goal is to explore the Reinterpretation and Historical Illustration of scenes from ancient civilizations, particularly the famous scene of the Psychostasia, from the civilization of Ancient Egypt. The aforementioned scene addresses the mythological moment of the weighing of the heart of the deceased and its respective judgment at Osiris’s tribunal, in order to decide whether they’re deserving of eternal life or, if guilty, having their soul consequently devoured and erased from existence. Described in the Book of the Dead as the great final test of each individual, this now mythological episode was one of the supporting pillars the development of a more than 5000-year civilization, thus being an interesting topic to be studied in the field of political theology. This project aims to demonstrate the utility and versatility that illustrative art can have as a tool for the visual context of a culture and to help the observer having a deeper understanding of the civilization in study. To achieve this objective, this investigation is organized in three parts. On the first part, we take a look at what can be understood by Reinterpretation and Historic Illustration. On the second part, we devised a methodology for a correct approach and development of a Reinterpretation and Historical Illustration: choosing the civilization to address and the message to interpret, followed by a theoretical investigation of the civilization’s culture, and finally, finding the adequate methods for the making of the project. On the third and final part, we do a practical implementation of the methodology previously described