Foot of Akhenaten or Nefertiti prostrate
Unknown Artist
ca. 1352–1336 B.C.
Medium
Indurated limestone
Dimensions
L. 17 × W. 12.5 × D. 10.3 cm (6 11/16 × 4 15/16 × 4 1/16 in.); Preserved H. of Plinth: 5.9 cm (2 5/16 in.)
Classification
Akhenaten or Nefertiti prostrate foot
Period
New Kingdom, Amarna Period
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1957
Accession Number
57.180.98(bis)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intriguing fragment, titled *Foot of Akhenaten Nefertiti prostrate hails from Egypt's Amarna Period (ca. 1352–1336 B.C.), a revolutionary era in the New Kingdom's 18th Dynasty. Carved during the reign of Pharaoh Akhen, who championed the worship of the sun disk Aten, this piece likely formed part of a larger statue depicting either the pharaoh or his queen Nefertiti in a prostrate pose—perhaps kneeling or lying in adoration before the divine. Such sculptures captured the era's bold artistic shift toward naturalism and elongated proportions, breaking from rigid Old Kingdom conventions to e...