Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Head of a Statue of a Queen as a Sphinx
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.
The uraeus on this lifesize head leaves little doubt that a queen or princess is represented; the narrow shoulders and their continuation in the back make it clear that she is from a sphinx, a composite creature combining a lion’s body and a human head. In the Middle Kingdom, royal women began to be depicted as sphinxes, a statue type previously usually reserved for the king. The overall shape of the face, the modeling, and the form of the eyes indicate that the head likely dates to the reign of Senwosret II.
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