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Amunhotep II

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
The faces on most statues of Amunhotep II differ slightly from those of his two immediate predecessors. Compared with the sculpture of Thutmose III or Hatshepsut exhibited nearby, for example, this statue’s face is a little longer, the eyes somewhat narrower, the brows a bit straighter, the nose slightly thicker, and the mouth less curved. Each change is minute, but together they create a distinctive, recognizable image of Amunhotep II. This face is not a portrait, but an official image conceived by the chief royal sculptors to communicate the ideal physical appearance of Amunhotep II. The Egyptians believed that reality was momentary and thus, within the context of eternity, meaningless. Only an ideal representation would endure forever.
MEDIUM Granite
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1426–1400 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 12 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 6 in., 28 lb. (31.8 × 24.1 × 15.2 cm, 12.7kg)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 56.7
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented; before 1943, acquired by Moïse Lévy de Benzion of Cairo, Egypt and Paris, France; March 20, 1947, sold in Cairo, Villa de Benzion sale; between 1947 and 1956, provenance not yet documented; before 1956, acquired by Frank J. Tano of New York, NY; January 1956, purchased by the Brooklyn Museum.
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    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Red granite head of a king, probably Amenhotep II, from an over life-sized statue. Nemes headdress with uraeus. Conventionalized face with eyebrows in high relief; ceremonial beard without strap. Top of headdress and uraus left roughly finished. Only front half of head is preserved. Condition: Face intact. Rear half of head lost. Chin chipped, only beginning of beard preserved.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Amunhotep II, ca. 1426–1400 B.C.E. Granite, 12 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 6 in., 28 lb. (31.8 × 24.1 × 15.2 cm, 12.7kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 56.7. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 56.7_PS9.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 56.7_PS9.jpg., 2018
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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