The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Statue of Amenemhat III

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.
  • -1960
    Mrs. Paul Mallon, Paris, France, Sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1960-
    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.org
    The Art Quarterly. 23 (Autumn 1960) p. 301
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” October 29, 1960, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Peck, 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. 10
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Martha L. Carter. Egyptian Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1963. p. 6, pl. 6 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. "The Art Museum and Antiquity" Apollo 11, no. 22 (December 1963) p. 436, fig. 2
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 2 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 2 archive.org
    Porter, 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. 286
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 13 archive.org
    Kozloff, 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.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 2 archive.org
    Cleveland 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. 7
    Málek, Jaromír. Egypt: Ancient Culture, Modern Land. 1993. p. 102
    Berman, Lawrence M. "La Collection Egyptienne du Cleveland Museum of Art" Bulletin de la Société française d'égyptologie (BSFE) 134 (October 1995) p. 24, fig. 5
    Berman, 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. 48
    Berman, 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.org
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. no. 4, p. 9, 116
    Vandenbeusch, 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. 39
    Lisby, 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