In ancient Egypt, artists often gravitated towards abstract qualities in their portraiture, resulting in characteristics that some would not define as a “true portrait.” This decree is shattered in the Bust of Prince Ankh-haf, as it exhibits the details finessed by the hand of a master rather than the usual stylized representation. Plaster covers the limestone core of the bust, which has been painted red. This color is often associated with males in antiquity. There also appears to be damage to the forehead, nose, and chin of the bust. Ankh-haf’s features show evidence of traits that are comparable to mature men. His head appears bulbous in shape, but this observation can be attributed to his hairline, which starts at the tip of his scalp. This seemingly minute detail depicts Ankh-haf with a receding hairline – a detail absent from most ancient Egyptian sculptures of the Fourth Dynasty. His eyelids droop down towards his irides, which were originally painted white with brown pupils, but the paint has since faded from existence. Additionally, the puffy bags under his eyes show signs of age, complimenting his weary facade. The diagonal grooves in his cheeks set off his mouth, which gives him a sense of sternness. His ears have since been lost to antiquity, along with a separate piece of plaster that was once used as a beard. The absence of the statue’s arms and the surface damage surrounding the lower chest suggests that part of the statue was separated from the rest of its body.

Significance:
The Bust of Ankh-haf demonstrates a sense of realism that had not yet been attempted by Egyptians in antiquity. His expression might be described as either pensive or contemplative, both of which are frequent components of lifelike renderings. His gaze appears commanding and willful to the observer and may have been intentionally carved out to give his viewers a raw, yet true depiction of his facial traits. The Bust of Ankh-haf was not only significant for its accurate representation of the human image, but also for its practical use in ancient Egypt. It is believed that the bust was taken from a false door and offering table, which housed the remainder of the arms and torso. Historians claim that the aesthetic perception of the bust must have been used to evoke a sense of realism in the event of an offering. Ankh-haf is special because he is not like other Egyptian sculptures of his time. Tomb sculptures were often private and placed in serdabs, where they were hidden from the public eye; however, this is not the case with the Bust of Prince Ankh-haf since it was found in a chapel attached to the exterior of the prince’s tomb. This chapel showcased the bust in such a way that it took on the form of an offering table, so it would be easily accessible for visitors seeking to honor the memory of Ankh-haf.]]> 2520–2494 B.C.]]>
Breckenridge, James D. Likeness: A Conceptual History of Ancient Portraiture. Evanston: Northwestern University, 1969. 37-38. Print.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/bust-of-prince-ankhhaf-45982]]>
Significance: Much like Hatshepsut, Queen Nefertiti is rendered with some male characteristics; for instance, her skin is of a reddish color, which is how men were normally portrayed to illustrate their fortitude and work in the outdoors. This has huge significance because it indicates that she was powerful in ways that men were and likely non-subservient at a time when women were meant to act solely as support systems for men; these typically-male characteristics signify that she had privileges that perhaps other women of her time did not have access to. Otherwise, she is clearly female based on her makeup and and feminine facial features (and elongated neck). Her ornamentations also signify power and status along with great wealth. The depiction of uraeus upon her headdress represents her royalty. The Bust of Nefertiti remains highly significant based on her poise and grace as well as the depiction strength in her womanhood. Additionally, much of Nefertiti’s significance stems from what art historians deem to have been her function. Nefertiti was found in the cupboard of the workshop of Thutmose, a sculptor from the Amarna Period. This location, as well as the fact that only one of her eyes was prepared to be inlaid with precious stones, indicate that this bust was used for teaching purposes within the workshop. Furthermore, the fact there is simply a bust with no body attached enhances the likeliness of this theory as well. The Bust of Nefertiti serves as one of the most well-known pieces from antiquity, yet may have been a mere teaching tool within its day and age.]]>
Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/egypt-art/new-kingdom/v/thutmose-bust-of-nefertiti-c-1340-bce

Ascaso, Francisco J., et al. "One eyed beauty: Queen Nefertiti's bust." British Journal of Ophthalmology 95.2 (2011): 161-161.

Arnold, Dorothea. The royal women of Amarna: images of beauty from ancient Egypt. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. Pages 52-70.]]> The ‘Large Kneeling Statue of Hatsheput’ presents a large female figure kneeling atop a rectangular slab with a rounded front. She wears a nemes headdress of incised lines that wraps around her forehead and extends to her shoulders and stops just above the breast, a false beard that flares out slightly at the bottom and creates a solid block at her upper chest, and a shendyt kilt that ends just above the knees. Her face, with its sharp, chiseled features and incised eyes, broad shoulders, understated breasts along with her regal attire, characterize the Ancient Egyptian conventions of a male pharaoh. Formed of hard granite, the statue exudes a stoic strength, with a rigid, straight back, and bent knees with curled feet pressing down on the base. Her arms, bent at the waist, lead to hands tilted up, cupping two round, palm-sized vessels, called nu-pots, used as offerings to the god Amun, according to the inscription at the statue’s base. Cracks appear throughout the granite, denoting the deliberate damage the rough, grainy surface, which has been re-assembled and restored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a plaster fill.

Significance:
Rendered in the millennia old Egyptian visual iconography, the statue boldly expresses King Hatsheput’s endurance as pharaoh. Although considered a queen earlier in life, Hatsheput, whom the statue portrays, ascended to power following her husband Thutmose II’s death. By 1473 B.C., scholars note that she wore male pharaoh regalia and created her own mythology, claiming to be the daughter of Thebes’ supreme god, Amun, in order to establish her authority. This particular statue was created after that time, and probably commissioned by Hatsheput herself along with hundreds of other portraits she mandated, which imbues its strong, kingly features with a greater sense of power. Originally seated in the middle terrace of Hatsheput’s mortuary temple, the statue, in kneeling position, would present its raised offerings to the statue of Amun-Re that passed from Thebes across the Nile to a shrine in the back of temple for one night during the Beautiful Feast of the Valley. This kneeling posture not only showed Hatsheput’s reliance and submission to Amun, but also testified to her own role in partaking in a ritual of the living, even after her death, implying her eternal position as a king/god in the afterlife, and heralded by the enormity of the statue. Though its cracks reflect the efforts of her step-son, Thutmose III, to expunge her name from history, the statue now sits proudly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a lasting symbol to new generations of the legacy Hatsheput proclaimed for herself.]]>
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/egypt-art/new-kingdom/v/mortuary-temple-of-hatshepsut-and-large-kneeling-statue-new-kingdom-egypt]]> The portrait of "Hemiunu Seated" depicts a male figure, seated on a block of stone with his legs together and both hands resting on his thighs. His left hand rests flat, palm downward, while his right hand (restored from fragments after damage by tomb robbers) is curled in a fist and holds an enigmatic cylindrical object that at least one scholar has interpreted as a folded piece of cloth. The fingernails and knuckle wrinkles of both hands are finely rendered. The figure wears a short kilt knotted at the waist. His legs and arms are full and fleshy, as is his torso, which features large breasts, a heavy belly with a crushed navel, and rolls of fat along his back. The hair on the figure's head is close-cropped and smooth, imitating the texture of his skin. The figure has a sagging chin, and a thin, closed mouth. The figure's eyes and nose, both heavily damaged by looters, have been restored by modern conservators with the help of a relief fragment now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The eyes may have originally been crafted from rock crystal with gold casings. With the restorations in place, the statue's face is demonstrably serene. The shoulders and hips are in axial alignment, and the figure is frontal (looking straight ahead), giving the overall portrait a block-like appearance. The sitter's titles (including "priest of Bastet" and "overseer of Scribes") are listed in hieroglyphs on the upper surface of the block beneath his feet. The characters are carved in sunken relief and filled with colored paste. Traces of color on other parts the statue indicate that it was once painted.

Significance:
As rendered by the ancient artist, this portrait of Hemiunu clearly conveys the sitter's high social status as the grand vizier to the pharaoh Khufu, and as the purported architect of the Great Pyramid at Giza. His pose, facial serenity, and youthful features echo pharaonic portraits, while his fleshy body indicates that he was wealthy and well-fed. It has been noted by scholars that the rolls of fat on Hemiunu's torso are characteristic of a person of much larger size, suggesting that these elements were added as markers of status rather than as accurate reflections of the sitter's physical body. This incongruity aside, Hemiunu's face and body still give the impression of a specific individual rather than a generic "type," situating it among other relatively "realistic" productions of the Old Kingdom such as Ankh-haf. As discovered in 1912, the portrait was secreted away in a serdab in Hemiunu's mastaba tomb (among the largest constructed at Giza) where it could be inhabited by the ka of the deceased. Despite this ancient attempt to protect the statue, tomb robbers later broke into the chamber and damaged Hemiunu's portrait - a lamentable, yet all-too-common fate of many examples of Egyptian funerary art. ]]> Likeness: A Conceptual History of Ancient Portraiture, 1968, p. 35.

Museum Publication (in print and online): Allen, James P. et al. Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, pp. 229-231.

Academic article found online: Fischer, H. G. "An Elusive Shape Within the Fisted Hands of Egyptian Statues," Metropolitan Museum Journal 10, 1975, pp. 9-21.

"Archaeology at Random" website: https://archaeologyatrandom.wordpress.com/hemiunu/]]> The portrait of Ka-Aper is a standing statue of a somewhat heavy-set male, with a full neck and close cut hair. His features are constant throughout his body, his heavy-set body is accompanied by a fuller/wider nose and full lips. His eyes are inlaid with rock crystal and lined with copper. His head and face are rounder, and have softer features. He is in an upright position with his left foot extended slightly ahead of his right foot; this shows that there is motion within the figure. However, the figure is still compact, despite the movement in the figure, the appendages are still close to the sides of his body and center of gravity. The statue’s right arm is by its side and left arm is up holding a staff or cane, of some sort. His right hand can also be seen curled into a fist, with negative space in the middle (where something cylindrical could have been). It is at the arms, in which you can see that the figure was not carved from a single piece of sycamore, rather the body was made separately from the two arms and assembled at a later stage. The areas where the arms are attached are denoted by the two pin-like structures on the upper torso, where the shoulders are. Furthermore, the feet of the statue are also worth mentioning, with their careful detail. Each toe is carved into the foot and subsequently, each toenail is carved into each toe. Along with the physical features of the body, there are other aspects of the statue that should be addressed. First off, is the garment in which Ka-Aper is clothed; he is shown in a kilt with a large (emphasized) knot around his waist. Secondly, there is wear and tear on the statue. There is splitting of the wood, which show the age of the statue, and you can see a patch on his face, where the statue was probably broken and repaired.

Significance:
The artist’s depiction of the person and creation of the statue represents a number of things. The attire, staff, and body type are representative of a priest. His fuller body also represents that it illustrates someone who is of a higher socio-economic standing. In some cultures a fuller body showed that one was wealthier because they had access to enough food and resources. This feature, along with the detail in the face of the statue can also lead one to believe that it is probably a good representation of how the individual really looked at the time. The typical representation of the male body is to have it idealized and have sharp features. The statue of Ka-Aper does not follow this norm, he is seen with a full neck, full lips, large abdomen, and round head. The face strays from the usual sharp and narrow facial features of statues at the time. The facial features of this statue are softer than is usually seen (refer to the statue of Menkaure Dyad). It is not likely an idealism or a generalization. The alternative title of the statue is also significant; Sheikh el-Beled. The reason the statue is called this is because when it was discovered the people believed it to amazingly resemble their local elder. This is another reason it is believed that the statue is a realistic depiction of Ka-Aper, the statue actually resembles a real life human being, rather than an idealized representation of someone. Another unusual aspect of the statue is the material it is made from: sycamore. Statues are usually made from harder materials like stone but in this case the artist chose to use wood. He might have done this to further individualize the statue and/or because sycamore was relatively easy to obtain in Egypt at the time. The positioning of the appendages are also remarkable. The right arm and right leg are both extended, this gives the statue motion, which is not typical of statues during the 5th century. Statues in the 5th century tended to be compact and extremely grounded (again refer to the statue of Menkaure Dyad).
]]> http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?id=S-UMDVRC1IC-X-D06-101380%5DD06-101380

“Statue of Sheikh el-balad representing Ka-aper.” n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.
http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/detail.aspx?id=14910

“Statue of Ka-aper.” n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.
http://egyptopia.com/Statue+of+Ka-aper+The+Egyptian+Museum_30_382_47_en.html]]> The funerary statue titled Khafre Enthroned is a portrait of the Pharaoh Khafre seated upon a throne. The sculpture is luminous, streaked, and dark in color, due to the polished gneiss stone from which it was carved. Because of the luminous quality of the stone, it is believed that this work was not painted. The figure is carved in a stiff, frontal position with his head facing forward and his arms close to his body. His arms rest atop his thighs, and his right hand is forming a fist while his left lies flat against his thigh. The figure’s limbs are pressed tightly to his body and there is no negative space in the work. His face is smooth and serene, showing little expression. He wears a nemes headdress, pleated kilt called a shendyt, and a false beard in traditional royal costume. The body of the figure is smooth and muscular with his chest and arms bare, but has suffered some damage in the left forearm and calf. The figure sits rigidly upright against the back of the throne, while a falcon, the god Horus, sits behind the figure at the back of the throne, wrapping his wings around the Pharaoh’s head. The throne he sits on is carved in light relief, depicting sedge and papyrus plants on the sides. Two lions form the legs of the throne, flanking the Pharaoh on either side.

Significance:
Both the idealized nature of the figure and the symbols within the sculpture help to illustrate the Pharaoh’s kingly and divine status. This sculpture comes from the valley temple of Khafre, a pillared hall in which twenty-three statues of the seated king were arranged. This suggests ritualistic context for this sculpture due to its placement as one of many other sculptures depicting the king in a similar way. The material used in this sculpture is gneiss, which is difficult to work with and is found in Nubia, just south of Egypt, suggesting the king’s control of other lands. The sculptor may have chosen this material because of its luminous and glowing quality in the sunlight. Some historians believe these intense optical properties of the stone can be associated with the cult of Horus, adding a divine element to the work. Horus himself is depicted in the sculpture, sitting behind Khafre’s head as a protector. The relief in the side of the throne depicts papyrus leaves and perhaps a sedge plant, signifying Khafre’s rule over both Upper and Lower Egypt and the union of these two lands. The King himself is rendered as smooth and idealized in the traditional Old Kingdom canon. His musculature is defined and his face is peaceful and refined. He is posed in a typical position of a king, and wears traditional royal garb. His formulaic pose, clothing, and facial rendering suggest that the sculptor was less focused on likeness and rather on using motifs and traditions in order to convey power and status. ]]> Art History. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2014. 57-58. Print.

Saleh, Mohamed, and Hourig Sourouzian. The Egyptian Museum, Cairo: Official Catalog. Mainz: P. Von Zabern, 1987. 31. Print.

Arnold, Dieter. "Old Kingdom Statues In Their Architectural Setting." Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids:. By John P. O'Neill and James P. Allen. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. 42. Print.

Janson, H. W., and Penelope J. E. Davies. "Chapter Three: Egyptian Art." Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition. New York: Learning Solutions, 2011. 59. Print.

]]> The pair statue of King Menkaure and the mysterious woman next him has raised a large amount of questions for many years. The deeply dark colored statue depicts the king standing in an upright striding position, beside a woman to his left. Only the top half of the statue has been polished. The two figures are vertically supported by a large slab of stone that is connected to their backsides. They are similar in size, but the king is slightly taller. They have a very strong frontal axis to their posture, and this piece was most likely intended to only be viewed from the front. The king’s right arm is slightly further retracted than his left, and his left foot is placed in front of his body, creating a sense of stepping forward. The king's hands are clenched in fists holding enigmatic cylindrical objects. The woman beside him also has her left foot placed slightly in front of her right, however, her stance is not as prominent as the king’s. The king’s body and facial features are depicted in an idealized youthful rendering, signaling that this is truly from the Old Kingdom time period. He is wearing a traditional nemes headdress, false beard, and 3-piece kilt. The woman is dressed in a common, plain Egyptian dress and Egyptian wig. The woman's dress hangs to just above her ankles and is close-fitting. Her right arm is wrapped around his back and her right hand is placed on his waist. Her left hand is placed on his left bicep in a very supporting pose.

Significance:
The true mystery behind this work of art comes from the woman that is next to him.
Based on her pose, it is clear that she is protective of him and serves as the secondary figure of the statue. An uncommon aspect about this woman is the fact that her left foot is placed in front of her right, along with King Menkaure. This is extremely significant because during this time, this was a pose that was strictly limited to males, or divine entities. Many experts still debate whether or not she is his queen, his mother, or a goddess that is watching over him. It is almost impossible to tell who the woman is for sure because the base of the statue was never inscribed. This piece was considered unfinished because there are key details missing from the woman’s wig, the king’s nemes headdress, and the lack of polish applied to the bottom half of the sculpture. It is assumed that this piece was never finished due to the king’s sudden death and the immediate need to place the piece into his temple. Although there are no written indications of whom the woman may be, based on her size and her gesture towards the king, many have generally assumed that she is woman of royalty, making it most likely that she is an innovative depiction of the queen.]]>
Museum of Fine Arts Website:
http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/king-menkaura-mycerinus-and-queen-230

Egypt and Beyond Book:

Lesko, Leonard H. Egypt and Beyond: Essays Presented to Leonard H. Lesko. Edited by Stephen E. Thompson and Peter Der Manuelian, Manuelian Design, 2008. Pg. 109-117]]> The "Seated Scribe" depicts a male figure sitting cross-legged with his hands in his lap. The figure is seated on a semi-circular base with his shoulders erect and his head angled forward and eyes looking ahead. His right hand is in the process of unrolling papyrus that is resting on the fabric of his kilt. His left hand is posed in the writing position, resting on top of the papyrus. Missing from this hand is a reed pen, that has broken off and been lost. He has dark, red skin with a black, painted hairline that has chipped away with time. His large ears are the third of the length of his head, larger than normal human proportions but still human-like. His arched eyebrows frame his magnesite -inset eyes that are thickly outlined with copper. His thin lips are centered around his square jaw, and his facial expression is attentive but relaxed. His body is padded with extra fat, with extra rolls resting on his belly. His muscle tone is weak, his shoulders slope and his arms appear fleshy.

Significance:
This statue, found near the step-pyramid of King Djoser in Saqqara, Egypt gives modern viewers a glimpse of life at the height of the Old Kingdom. The scribe is depicted at work, in a very informal manner, and shown as more natural and human like- compared to pharaohs. He is not depicted as youthful and powerful, as was typical of royals. This is because while important and necessary to the function of Egyptian society, the scribe himself is not a royal. The fact that this statue exists is a testament to the scribe’s position in the social hierarchy. This statue would have been created as a funerary statue, or a ka statue. The Ka, or the “life-spark” was something only royals and nobles had, again speaking to the status of the scribe depicted. But because he is not a divine figure, he does not have the typical conventions of a pharaoh statue. The pose itself, while informal, is a typical “scribe pose”, with strong frontality as he is seated and poised to write. The face is more individualized, with the thin lips and large ears, the seated scribe could potentially portray a specific individual. While the face is more personalized, it is unknown who this scribe could be. The excavation documents were lost, and the specific location of origin is still unknown because of looting and pillaging. Some art historians believe that this figure could be “Pehernefer”, a scribe from the fourth dynasty who has been depicted with thin lips and large ears. He is also more commonly identified as “Kai”. An inscribed statue of a scribe named Kai was found in the same area of Saqqara. Many art historians contend this is the identity of the seated scribe, because the techniques used to inlay the eyes in both statues are nearly identical. Regardless of his identity, the significance of the seated scribe is apparent in the twenty-first century.
]]>
"Lourve" website: http://musee.louvre.fr/oal/scribe/indexEN.html

"Smart History" website: https://smarthistory.org/seated-scribe/

"Khan Academy" website: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/egypt-art/predynastic-old-kingdom/v/the-seated-scribe-c-2620-2500-b-c-e

"Ancient History Encyclopedia" website: http://www.ancient.eu/timeline/pharaoh/]]> The sculpture titled Senwosret III as a Sphinx is quite imposing and formidable. The material used to make the sculpture is gneiss. The structure of the sculpture includes the head of a human, in this case the head of the Pharaoh Senwosret III combined with the body of a lion. The front legs of this sphinx are missing. The rear legs are present. The head and face of the sculpture include the pharaonic headdress (nemes), part of a serpent (Uraeus) and a beard. The face of this sculpture has a fatigued and somber look. The sculpture has a very smooth texture. Yet, the stone has a striated look to it. As part of the striated appearance, there are horizontal and vertical lines running the length of the sculpture and its base. The sculpture has inscriptions underneath the beard.

Significance:
This is a very important sculpture. This sphinx represents one of the great pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. One of the most amazing aspects of this sculpture is its surface. The surface is simply majestic. There is an incredible level of precision in the carving. The multicolored gneiss stone looks stunning up close. The carving of the gneiss length wise complements the colors of the stone. They combine to create a sense of movement. A significant fact about the gneiss is that it came from Nubia, meaning that it came from outside of Egypt. That tells us that the Egyptians had access to their neighbors' resources. One of the most powerful aspects of the sphinx is its tail. The tail gives the sculpture a fearsome quality. I genuinely fear that the tail of the sphinx is going to move. There is a feeling of life in this sculpture. A part of that feeling of life in the sculpture is in the face of the sculpture. Whilst the faces of Old Kingdom pharaonic sculptures had a very imposing look, the Middle Kingdom faces become somewhat distressed and drained. This has to do with the worry that the pharaohs were experiencing at the time. The dawn of the reality of the pharaoh's responsibilities are show in their faces of the sculpture.

]]> http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=25514

"The MET" Website:
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544186

Google Arts and Culture Website:
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/asset/head-of-a-sphinx-of-senwosret-iii/9gHsiUAq-4V7Xg

Academic Article Found Online: Habachi, Labib. "The Gneiss Sphinx of Sesostris III: Counterpart and Provenance," The University of Chicago Press," Vol 19/20, 1984/1985, pp. 11-16

"Middle Kingdom of Egypt." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.]]> ]]> Description:

The portrait of “Lady Sennuwy” depicts a female figure seated on a stone block with her legs together and arms placed on her thighs. The right hand is clasped into a fist, holding a lotus blossom, the symbol of rebirth and the assurance of eternal life. The left hand of the figure rests with the palm flat on the thigh. The composition is frontal with the body of the figure shown in axial alignment. The figure wears a tightly fitted sheath dress that extends to her shins and emphasizes the elegant proportions of her feminine shape, particularly her narrow waist and full breasts. She is depicted as an idealized young woman: slender and eternally youthful. The face of the figure is carefully modelled into an expression of serenity; the face is delicate and refined so to express the inner personality of the subject through expressive realism common during the Middle Kingdom period. The deep gray granodiorite stone of the figure has been shaped and smoothed by the unknown artist, who scholars suggest was trained in a royal workshop. The polished nature of the stone indicates that the portrait was never painted. The smooth quality of the skin and placid expression mirror the symbolism of the lotus flower to suggest the sitter’s continuation into eternity. The wig worn by the figure is long and straight, falling to the breasts. The figure’s title and veneration in the presence of Osiris and other deities of the afterlife are listed in hieroglyphs in front of the feet and on the sides of the base where the figure sits.

Significance:

As the wife of the provincial governor of Asyut, Lady Sennuwy had access to high quality materials and accomplished artists for her portrait representation, suggesting the incredible wealth and importance of the couple during the reign of Senwosret I in the Middle Kingdom. The portrait of Lady Sennuwy, along with a similar sculpture of her husband, Djefaihapi, was likely housed in a tomb chapel or sanctuary in their rock-cut tomb (the largest nonroyal tomb of the Middle Kingdom). Despite the suggestion of the original placement of the portraits, at the time of excavation in 1914, the two figures were found buried in Kerma, inside of the tumulus of a Nubian king. Scholars believe that three-hundred years after the creation of the statues, they were removed from their original context within the couples’ tomb in Asyut and exported to Nubia (Sudan). Though the reason for the statue’s exportation is still unknown, its importance as a funerary portrait remains significant. Many portraits of the Middle Kingdom work towards a fidelity to nature in the presentation of the human body, and the portrait of Lady Sennuwy is a wonderful example as it is beautiful in its proportion and attention to detail, particularly in the rendering of the facial features. The polished gray granodiorite used for the creation of the portrait was often utilized as a symbol in funerary portraiture to suggest new life, resurrection, and the resurrected god of the dead, Osiris, who is mentioned in the hieroglyphs on the figure’s base. The importance placed on rebirth and the eternal in the figure, from her youthful appearance, allusions to Osiris, and symbolization of the lotus flower, conveys the significance placed on the preservation of personal identity from the life of the sitter into the afterlife.

]]> "Ancient Egypt: Symbols of the Pharaoh." The British Museum, www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/Visit_Egypt_Symbols_KS2b.pdf.

Janson, H. W., and Anthony F. Janson. History of Art: The Western Tradition. 6th ed., Upper Saddle River, Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2004. 59-60. Print.

Robins, Gay. The Art of Ancient Egypt. Rev. ed., Cambridge, Harvard UP, 2008. 24. Print.

"Statue of Lady Sennuwy." Museum of Fine Arts Boston, www.mfa.org/collections/object/statue-of-lady-sennuwy-141967.

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