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Block Statue of Ankhwennefer

Late Period
ca. 690–650 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 123
Ankhwennefer is shown squatting on the ground. Only the head, hands and feet emerge from a cloak that he has drawn tightly around his body. Since the Middle Kingdom this statuary type, called a "block statue," served to represent non-royal persons in a general context of solar beliefs. The artist of the Ankhwennefer statue has achieved a sensitive blend of the abstract block form with organic details that are especially noticeable in the face, in the profile view of the body and in the beautifully expressive feet. The slight lift of the face is thought to be directed towards the sun.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Block Statue of Ankhwennefer
  • Period: Late Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 25–26
  • Date: ca. 690–650 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Limestone
  • Dimensions: H. 46 × W. 19.8 × D. 35 cm, 38.8 kg (18 1/8 × 7 13/16 × 13 3/4 in., 85.6 lb.)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift and Rogers, Fletcher, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1993
  • Object Number: 1993.161
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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