This quartzite head is the only portrait we have of King Amenesse, one of the grandsons of Ramesses II. The sensual modeling of the face recalls the finest images of his grandfather. The king wears the khepresh, or blue crown. Look on the band of the crown—you’ll see two small markings above the ears on either side. They are schematic renderings of royal cobras—the one over the king’s left temple wears the red crown of northern Egypt, while the one on the right wears the white crown of the south. Together, these two crowns signify the pharaoh's rule over all of Egypt.

Below the towering dome of the crown, the pharaoh’s face is rendered astonishingly human by its double chin, full cheeks, and globe-shaped eyes, which are half-hidden by their fleshy lids. Traces of paint show that the face was originally red-brown, with yellow details on the blue crown signifying gold.

The full statue originally showed the king standing, wearing an ankle-length pleated skirt and holding a standard topped by a divine image against his left shoulder. In this way, the statue proclaimed the piety of the pharaoh in the temple of Egypt’s most important god during the New Kingdom.