Harvard Art Museums > 1968.64: Temple or Palace Relief: Female Court Attendants Sculpture Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Temple or Palace Relief: Female Court Attendants , 1968.64,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 18, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/290258. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text Ancient Egyptian representations of the human body are remarkably consistent — with one exception. In the 14th-century BCE Amarna period, a short-lived religious revolution was accompanied by radical changes in the shape and proportions of the human figure. Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (c. 1349–1336 BCE) promoted the cult of the Aten, the life-giving sun disk, at the expense of better-known gods. As Aten’s representative on earth, he changed his name to Akhenaten ("beneficial to the Aten") and built a new capital, modern Amarna. This fragment, originally from a building in Amarna, was part of a larger composition showing the royal family: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and their daughters. It preserves two female attendants, one holding a sash and the handle of a fan. Their transparent dress emphasizes a prominent belly and curved thighs. Other features of Amarna art not visible here include an elongated head and neck, narrow shoulders, and short upper torso and lower legs. Identification and Creation Object Number 1968.64 Title Temple or Palace Relief: Female Court Attendants Other Titles Alternate Title: Relief from Tel Amarna: Two Ladies in Waiting from the Court of Akhenaton Classification Sculpture Work Type sculpture Date 1349-1336 BCE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Tel el'Amarna (Egypt) Period New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 Culture Egyptian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/290258 Physical Descriptions Medium Limestone Technique Carved Dimensions H. 21.6 x W. 24.8 x D. 3.3 cm (8 1/2 x 9 3/4 x 1 5/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Mr. and Mrs. Schimmel, Long Island, NY, (by 1968), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1968. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norbert Schimmel Accession Year 1968 Object Number 1968.64 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History John D. Cooney, Amarna Reliefs from Hermopolis in American Collections, Brooklyn Museum (New York, NY, 1965), No. 20 Günther Roeder, Amarna-Reliefs aus Hermopolis, Gerstenberg (Hildesheim, Germany, 1969), no. P.C. 64, p. 201, pl. 183 David Gordon Mitten and Amy Brauer, Dialogue with Antiquity, The Curatorial Achievement of George M. A. Hanfmann, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1982), p. 17, no. 77. Exhibition History Dialogue with Antiquity: The Curatorial Achievement of George M.A. Hanfmann, Fogg Art Museum, 05/07/1982 - 06/26/1982 32Q: 3740 Egyptian, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 05/31/2023 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
