Torso of a king

Ptolemaic Period

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 137

Slightly under-lifesize statues in dark stone like this and the adjacent sculpture were probably created by the Ptolemaic kings to serve the needs of native Egyptian royal cults, possibly connected with royal renewal given the regenerative significance of the color. Anatomically an advanced left leg is accompanied by flattening and lowering of the left rear hip muscle. Egyptian sculptors normally accurately observe this detail. Here, oddly, the right rear hip is shifted.

Torso of a king, Basalt

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front, B&W image