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 Sealer Nemtihotep Seated
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.
A masterpiece of Middle Kingdom sculpture originally placed in a tomb or memorial chapel, the statue of Nemtihotep radiates a sense of transcendence. His face is comparable to images of the pharaoh Senwosret III, but it lacks the loose flesh and conspicuous bone structure found on statues of that king. He wears an enveloping cloak—a Middle Kingdom innovation—and adopts a gesture of reverence. On the right side of the seat, an incongruously rough inscription provides the owner’s name and titles.
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