Skip Navigation

King Senwosret III

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
A masterpiece of Middle Kingdom royal sculpture, this statue of the Twelfth Dynasty king Senwosret III encapsulates one basic theme of this installation: the interaction between permanence and change. By the time an artist carved this piece, the seated pose had been part of Egyptian tradition for more than eight hundred years; most of the elements of the costume had been around even longer. However, the style of carving—note Senwosret’s expressive face—had been in vogue for less than a generation.
MEDIUM Granite
  • Possible Place Collected: Hierakonpolis, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1836–1818 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 12
    PERIOD Middle Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 21 7/16 x 7 1/2 x 13 11/16 in. (54.5 x 19 x 34.7 cm)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE
    ACCESSION NUMBER 52.1
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented, probably Medamud or Hierakonpolis, Egypt; before 1951, acquired by Moharreb Todrous of Luxor, Egypt; before 1951, inherited from Moharreb Todrous by his eldest daughter; 1951, purchased from eldest daughter by Jacques Matossian of Alexandria, Egypt; before 1952, acquired from Jacques Matossian by Marguerite Mallon; January 1952, purchased from Marguerite Mallon by the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION King Senwosret III, ca. 1836–1818 B.C.E. Granite, 21 7/16 x 7 1/2 x 13 11/16 in. (54.5 x 19 x 34.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 52.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 52.1_front_PS2.jpg)
    IMAGE front, 52.1_front_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.