The figure wears the double crown of Egypt with the uraeus (sacred asp) in front, a three-row pectoral, a fringed kilt whose central panel is decorated with two uraei, and a link belt. He probably represents and was dedicated as a worshiper; his pose, with one arm bent across the chest, is typical of such figures. Remarkably, Egyptian sculpture was not imported into Cyprus. However, Egyptian influence on the island began in the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600–1050 B.C.) and was reinforced by Phoenician imports. Only after Egypt took control of Cyprus in about 570 B.C. did details such as the double crown appear in sculpture.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Limestone male figure in Egyptian dress
Period:Archaic
Date:3rd quarter of the 6th century BCE
Culture:Cypriot
Medium:Limestone
Dimensions:51 1/4 × 22 × 12 in., 264 lb. (130.2 × 55.9 × 30.5 cm, 119.7 kg)
Classification:Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76
Accession Number:74.51.2472
Sanctuary of Golgoi–Ayios Photios
Doell, Johannes. 1873. Die Sammlung Cesnola. no. 43, p. 18, pl. II.9, St. Petersburg: L’Académie Impérial des Sciences.
Perrot, Georges and Charles Chipiez. 1885. Histoire de l'Art dans l'Antiquité. t. 3, Phénicie, Cypre. pp. 526–30, fig. 358, Paris: Hachette.
Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1363, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Gjerstad, Einar. 1948. The Swedish Cyprus Expedition: The Cypro-Geometric, Cypro-Archaic, and Cypro-Classical Periods, Vol. 4(2). pp. 99–100, Stockholm: The Swedish Cyprus Expedition.
Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 182, p. 117, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2000. "The New Cypriot Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Minerva, 11(3): pp. 19–20, fig. 7.
Faegersten, Fanni. 2003. The Egyptianizing Male Limestone Statuary from Cyprus: a study of a cross-cultural eastern Mediterranean votive type. no. 21, p. 347, fig. 5, pls. 6.1, 26, Lund, Sweden: The Historical Museum at Lund University.
Stylianou, Andreas and Patrick Schollmeyer. 2007. "Der Sarkophag aus Golgoi." Dynastensarkophage mit szenischen Reliefs aus Byblos und Zypern: Der Sarkophag aus Amathous als Beispiel kontaktinduzierten Wandels, 2. p. 220 n. 213, Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern.
Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 60, pp. 45, 59, 73–4, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Sørensen, Lone Wriedt. 2017. "True to type? Archaic Cypriot male statues made of limestone." Proceedings of the Danish Institute at Athens, VIII. pp. 66–67, fig. 10, Denmark: Aarhus University Press.
Faegersten, Fanni and Carolina Lopez-Ruiz. 2023. "Beyond “Volute Capitals”: Materials, Meaning, and
Adaptations of a Phoenician Motif." Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, 11, (2–3): pp. 244–45, figs, 12–13.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
