Relief Fragments Depicting a Court Scene
New Kingdom, Amarna Period
This block is an excerpt from a family scene, a genre that reinforced the notion of royal family as the blessed children of the Aten. The curved back of a cushioned seat stands in a pavilion. One of its supporting poles is decorated with plants and animals. Above the chair floats what is probably the streamer of a crown. The royal family gathered in pavilions such as this to pass the hot afternoon or to dine. Outside, a group of musicians enhance the atmosphere: the overlapping profiles of the legs of two women and the long vertical bar of what is probably an upright harp mark their presence.