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Stoeward Sehetepibreankh Analysis

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he Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue has on view the Seated Statue of the Steward Sehetepibreankh (accession number 24.1.45) within their Egyptian Art collection. The private statue was excavated in 1923-1924 in the Memphite Region of Egypt. It has been determined that the piece was created in ca. 1919 to 1885 B.C., better known as the Middle Kingdom, during the reign of Amenemhat II with limestone material and painted with colors that have faded over time. The statue has been credited as a common example of human representation from the Middle Kingdom. The Seated Statue of the Steward Sehetepibreankh has been acclaimed to be the most common type of human representation made during the Middle Kingdom and prime example of private sculpture based on its’ detailed features. Although Steward Sehetepibreankh was not a king and instead was a high official, his statue was still modeled in a similar manner that king statues from the time period and prior looked like. Sehetepibreankh is depicted sitting on a chair with his right hand holding a fist gesture as a sign of power and his left hand laying on his leg towards his knee while wearing a typical king’s kilt. In all …show more content…

The statue’s grandness may be due to the notion that statues of private persons often tended to imitate the royal style and its predetermined location within his burial tomb. Twelfth dynasty royal statues were known to reflect realism and not fictional godlike features which is why they had large dimensions thus people who could afford similar scale sculptures wanted the same for their own portraits. Sehetepibreankh may have also chosen to have a large sculpture since his tomb was going to have a space for his family and friends to say prayers and bring offerings. Similar to other high officials of his time period and prior, his tomb was located near the king he served so he may be affiliated with royal family and have a good

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