Statue of Shebenhor
Late Period, Dynasty 26 (664-525 BCE)
Medium
Basalt
Dimensions
28 × 13 × 16.3 cm (11 × 5 1/8 × 6 3/8 in.)
Classification
statue
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
13454
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
How do you define a portrait? While we might think of portraits as capturing an individual’s likeness, for the non-royal Egyptians whose statues appear in this case, it was the addition of a name in hieroglyphs that identified them; their facial features and fashion were determined by contemporary styles. The inscriptions on the front and back of the statue on the upper left distinguish it as a representation of a man named Shebenhor. He sits with his knees drawn up in front of him and his hands...
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....