Royal Lute Player
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
When still intact, the scene from which this relief comes showed one of Akhenaten's daughters playing a lute in a boat floating through reeds in the Nile marshes. The thumb and index finger of the princess's right hand strum the chords, while the long delicate fingers of her left hand press down on the lute strings.
MEDIUM
Limestone, pigment
DATES
ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
late Dynasty 18
PERIOD
New Kingdom, Amarna Period
ACCESSION NUMBER
60.197.9
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
PROVENANCE
Tell el-Amarna, Egypt; probably reused inside the pylon of Ramsses II at Hermopolis Magna, Egypt; 1939, excavated inside the pylon of Ramesses II by the German expedition to Hermopolis, Egypt; between 1939 and 1960, provenance not yet documented; 1960, acquired by Michel Abemayor of New York, NY; 1960, purchased from Michel Abemayor by the Brooklyn Museum.
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CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Limestone relief. In raised relief, at left, girl wearing curled wig and facing right playing a lute. At extreme right two small standing figures incompletely preserved. The background almost certainly represents a papyrus swamp, obviously from its irregularity some natural formation. The posts (?) in front of the lutist perhaps being details of boats. The composition possibly a genre scene in a swamp.
Condition: Lower right corner broken. Considerable remains of ancient pigment on face. On small figures at right small are of ancient red pigment on upper body.
CAPTION
Royal Lute Player, ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 21 x 9 1/4 in. (53.3 x 23.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 60.197.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 60.197.9_edited_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 60.197.9_edited_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
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