Category: Brooklyn Museum Assignment–Ancient World

SN: Brooklyn Museum Part 1

Part 1:

 

Amunhotep III is made to be seen as an aging man due to the sagging cheeks. The medium of this artwork is wood, gold leaf (seen on the hat and kilt), glass and pigment. The eyes are outlined in a dark grayish-purple color as the eyebrows are outlined with a blackish-purple color. His shoulders are straight and the arms seem to be either cut or never made. His crown is gold and has a lot of definition and texture with a black square and a gold circlular pattern around it. Amunhotep III was made to stand on a wooden base with his left leg more forward than his right, almost like he is taking a step. With his status of King, although his legs were positioned one in front of the other, he was balanced. The kilt has straight vertical lines in the back and different line patterns in the front. In addition, the front of the kilt is shaped differently. In the middle it is in the shape of a rectangle with slits of a right triangle on the left and right sides. On the back, it is shaped almost as a straight line on the bottom back of the kilt. There is a noticeable metal loop on his neck as well. Amunhotep III has more color in his face, specifically a golden brown, than he does on his body, which is a little bit of adarker brown. The statue was not as tall as I expected, but it was three-dimensional and I was able to get a glimpse of all of its characteristics.

 

 

The Wooden Prince

The statue of Amunhotep III stood out to me at first because of the color scheme. The gold and brown colors made the figure seem warm and welcoming. With closer look, the figure seemed to be made of wood, different from the fine stone figures usually seen in Egyptian art. This evoked curiosity. Without reading the caption, the figure seemed to be representing an authority, with a magnificent crown and a gold colored kilt. The gate of the figure gave a sense of sophistication and confidence. The figure was small, and stood on a wooden base. Strikingly the figure has no arms, and the left leg is in front of the right, suggesting a sense of motion or even dominance. There seems to be difference in the polish of the head and body, which was interesting. The crown was one of the most complicated woodwork in the figure. The crown is something called the “Blue Crown” which was first seen in Egyptian art only a few generation prior, meaning that it was a relatively new invention. The eyebrows and the eyes are outlined in a purple-blue glass, and eyes in white and black glass. The face is also drawn so realistically, and seems to be lifelike. The male figure was made in the late XVII dynasty, circa 1390-1352. The caption read that the figure was a cult statue made after the death of subject. After some research, I found that wood was pretty expensive and rare and they had to be imported. This shows that this figure was someone of great importance or meant something to the people since it was created after his death. Not surprisingly, Amunhotep III’s reign was a time of peace.

I really enjoyed looking at this piece of art, it really spoke volumes of who the the pharaoh was, and his reign. Though I was first attracted to this piece because of the color, the art revealed to me so much history and purpose that I didn’t know. Definitely a great experience.