Relief of a Nobleman
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Object Label
The exact context of this relief is unknown. The anonymous noble's garment and elaborate wig with lotus flower fillet and intricate locks are perfect attire for an offering scene in the underworld.
The relief clearly illustrates the legacy of the artistic style championed by Akhenaten, Egypt's so-called heretic pharaoh. The projection of the face and neck beyond the wig and the deep carving of the rear of the head are details that continued long after Akhenaten's reign. The elegant treatmnent suggests that the relief comes from a tomb at Saqqara, a vast cemetery in the region of Memphis. At the left a hand holds a sistrum (or rattle) and a flower. The missing person was surely a woman, either the wife or some other relative of the deceased.
Caption
Relief of a Nobleman, ca. 1295–1070 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 20 1/2 × 17 × 2 1/2 in. (52.1 × 43.2 × 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.261. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.261_SL1.jpg)
Title
Relief of a Nobleman
Date
ca. 1295–1070 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 19 or Dynasty 20
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Possible place made: Saqqara, Egypt
Medium
Limestone, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
20 1/2 × 17 × 2 1/2 in. (52.1 × 43.2 × 6.4 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
36.261
Rights
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.
Frequent Art Questions
How can you tell this represents a nobleman?
With this figure, as with all representations in the Egyptian collection, Egyptologists look closely at the hair, the clothing and other clues for an understanding of the subject. Can you see the detailed lines on the cloth on his body? Those represent fine pleats, and the wig he is wearing is clearly of very fine, detailed braids as well, with the lovely band at the top. These details give clues to his social status. In addition, only the wealthiest in Egyptian society could afford such detailed work for their tombs .
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