Block Statue of Ankhwennefer

Block Statue of Ankhwennefer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ankhwennefer is shown squatting on the ground. Only the head, hands and feet emerge from a cloak that he has drawn tightly around his body. Since the Middle Kingdom this statuary type, called a "block statue," served to represent non-royal persons in a general context of solar beliefs. The artist of the Ankhwennefer statue has achieved a sensitive blend of the abstract block form with organic details that are especially noticeable in the face, in the profile view of the body and in the beautifully expressive feet. The slight lift of the face is thought to be directed towards the sun.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Block Statue of AnkhwenneferBlock Statue of AnkhwenneferBlock Statue of AnkhwenneferBlock Statue of AnkhwenneferBlock Statue of Ankhwennefer

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.