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Standing Woman. Early Fourth Dynasty (ca. 2570 B.C.E.). Egyptian
alabaster with faint remains of paint; H. 19 1/4 in. (48.7 cm). Trustees of the British
Museum, London (EA 24619).
Individual statues of women from the Old Kingdom are rare. Although the name of this woman
is unknown, she was undoubtedly from an important family and may have held official or
religious titles in her own right. The lack of a back pillar, her hairstyle, and the low
set of her head in her shoulders show continuities with Third Dynasty sculpture. She is,
however, represented with legs together and arms at her sides in what is from this time
forward the canonical pose for standing female figures in Egyptian art. Pointing the way
toward a new concern for the harmonious construction of the human physique, her slender
curved body is clearly seen through a sheath dress, the bodice of which was probably
indicated in paint. |
