Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Statue of the High Steward Gebu in a Cross-Legged Pose
Middle Kingdom
Not on view
This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.
Gebu sits in a cross-legged pose, his legs and body concealed below the breast by an enveloping garment, a tendency to abstraction that increases in the later Middle Kingdom. Statues in this pose were often displayed in temples or along processional routes, where they would have magically participated in rituals surrounding a deity. Inscriptions indicate that an unnamed king honored Gebu with this statue, and it was placed in the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak. Facial features link the statue to late Twelfth Dynasty images of the king, but the mannered way in which these elements are treated date it to the first part of the Thirteenth Dynasty.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
