On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Figure with a sidelock strumming a harp on his phallus
Ptolemaic Period
The small figure crouches with his knees raised on either side of an oversized phallus on which he rests and plays a lyre. The presence of a side lock indicates the figure should be identified with a child god, probably Harpokrates. They type is connected with a complex of informal statuary including many ithyphallic figures in the Late and Ptolemaic Periods. In general these informal figurines are thought to be connected with festivals celebrating a divine birth.
