The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of March 28, 2024
Statue of Amenemhat III
c. 1859–1814 BCE
(2040–1648 BCE), Dynasty 12, reign of Amenemhat III (1860–1814 BCE)
Overall: 51.2 x 19.8 x 18.4 cm (20 3/16 x 7 13/16 x 7 1/4 in.)
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The first pyramid Amenemhat III attempted to build, the so-called Black Pyramid, had major construction flaws and had to be abandoned when it started to collapse.Description
Even though this statue of a king is uninscribed, its distinctive features identify it without any doubt as a portrait of Amenemhat III. The heavy brows, prominent cheekbones, hollow cheeks, jutting lower jaw, and tightly bunched muscles at the corners of the mouth make a strikingly realistic impression. Not realistic, however, are the king’s supersized ears. Instead, they symbolize the ruler’s willingness to hear the prayers of his people. If this image had been carved in relief, the king’s hands would have been uplifted in worship. Here, however, to prevent the breakage of projecting limbs, the ruler’s hands are pressed flat against the front his kilt, a portion of which is looped over his belt.- -1960Mrs. Paul Mallon, Paris, France, Sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art1960-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh
- Lee, Sherman E. "Amenemhat III." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 47, no. 9 (1960) p. 205-11 www.jstor.orgThe Art Quarterly. 23 (Autumn 1960) p. 301Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” October 29, 1960, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.orgPeck, William, and Francis W. Robinson. Life and Art in Ancient Egypt Detroit Institute of Arts: 9.7.-1.9.1963. 1963. p. 8, cat. no. 10Cleveland Museum of Art, and Martha L. Carter. Egyptian Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1963. p. 6, pl. 6 archive.orgLee, Sherman E. "The Art Museum and Antiquity" Apollo 11, no. 22 (December 1963) p. 436, fig. 2The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 2 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 2 archive.orgPorter, Bertha, Rosalind L. B. Moss, Ethel W. Burney, Jaromir Malék, Diana Magee, Elizabeth Miles, Elizabeth Fleming, and Alison Hobby. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings. Vol. II. Theban Temples 1972. p. 286The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 13 archive.orgKozloff, Arielle P. "Guessing the Unseen from the Seen." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 9 (1979) p. 345, fig. 23 www.jstor.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 2 archive.orgCleveland Museum of Art, and Arielle P. Kozloff. An Introduction to the Art of Egypt in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: [The Museum], 1983. p. 7Málek, Jaromír. Egypt: Ancient Culture, Modern Land. 1993. p. 102Berman, Lawrence M. "La Collection Egyptienne du Cleveland Museum of Art" Bulletin de la Société française d'égyptologie (BSFE) 134 (October 1995) p. 24, fig. 5Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Mentioned: p. 155-157; Reproduced: p. 155-157, color p. 48Berman, Lawrence M., "New Look at Ancient Egypt", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 39 no. 01, January 1999 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 6 archive.orgMay, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. no. 4, p. 9, 116Vandenbeusch, Marie, Aude Semat, and Margaret Maitland. Pharaoh: King of Ancient Egypt. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art ; London : The British Museum, 2016. Mentioned: p. 77, 158; Reproduced: p. 76, fig. 39Lisby, Darnell-Jamal. “Egyptomania: Fashion and the funeral.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 63, no. 2 (2023): 4-7. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 7."October at the CMA.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 63, no. 3 (2023): 17. Reproduced: P. 17.
- Egyptomania: Fashion's Conflicted Obsession. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 1, 2023-January 28, 2024).Pharaoh: King of Ancient Egypt. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 13-June 12, 2016).Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 12, 2015-January 24, 2016).Senusret III. Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille, Lille, France (organizer) (October 9, 2014-January 26, 2015).Pharaohs: Treasures of Egyptian Art from the Louvre. TheCleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh (11 February 1996 - 14 April 1996)Supplementary Exhibition to Tutankhamun Treasures. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (organizer) (July 9-September 1, 1963).Life and Art in Ancient Egypt. Detroit Institute of Arts, (9 July-1 September 1963).Year in Review - Nineteen Hundred Sixty. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961).
- {{cite web|title=Statue of Amenemhat III|url=false|author=|year=c. 1859–1814 BCE|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.56