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Senwosret I

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
Most Egyptian reliefs decorating ancient temple walls were brightly painted. Limestone was too porous to allow for an even application of color, so artists usually covered a wall with plaster, smoothed the surface, and painted directly on the dried plaster. Over time, the painted plaster layer separated from the limestone and fell from the wall, so very little original coloration survives. Through the accidents of preservation, this fragment of the king’s face retains most of its ancient paint.
MEDIUM Limestone, pigment
  • Place Excavated: Lisht, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1919-1875 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 12
    PERIOD Middle Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 6 9/16 x 19 11/16 in. (16.7 x 50 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 52.130.1
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Fragment of limestone temple relief. At left, upper half of face of king wearing Upper Egyptian crown. At extreme right, portion of two strands of flail (?). Colors well preserved; skin of king red; eye-strips and eyebrows, blue; crown yellow (?); background, white. Condition: Preserved portion intact. Slight loss of paint.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Senwosret I, ca. 1919-1875 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 6 9/16 x 19 11/16 in. (16.7 x 50 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 52.130.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.52.130.1_erg2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.52.130.1_erg2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 11/26/2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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