Friday, April 3, 2020
Egyptian Art Statue From Metropolitn Museum Essays - Hairdressing
  Egyptian Art Statue from Metropolitn Museum    Egyptian    Art Statue from Metropolitn Museum    This superb pair standing statue remains  semi-attached to the limestone block from which they were carved. There  is chipping on the surface of Memi's (man) right arm. A portion of    Sabu's (woman) nose and her lips appear to be chipped off as well. On the  lower part of Sabu's body there is chipping on both legs and right underneath  her pelvic area. There are visible horizontal lines that cut right across    Memi's right forearm and underneath Sabu's breasts. These lines may indicate  what pieces of the statue had to be mended back together. There is also  chipping on the bottom right hand corner of the stone slab underneath Memi's  right leg. There are remnants of black paint on Sabu's wig, hairline and  on her pupils. On Memi's left shoulder there is a small remnant of  rust color paint that was probably the skin color used for his whole body.    Black paint is also visible on the lower portion of Memi's hair, especially  along the tips closest to his shoulders. All other paint on the statue  seems to have deteriorated over the years.    The hieroglyphs along the bottom  of the stone slab label this work of historical art with representations  of birds and plants. The representation of nature in Egyptian artwork is  very common during the Old Kingdom time period. The overall statue remains  fairly intact suffering from only one major handicap, which is the loss  of its original color.    This pair statue subtly deviates  from the conventional representations of husband and wife in Old Kingdom  artwork. This statue is rather exceptional because we see an image  where the wife's symbolic gesture that signifies their marital status is  affectionately returned by her husband's embrace. There is a sense  of intimacy and warmth in this embrace. This may explain the fact  that Memi stands with his feet together as opposed to the masculine striding  pose where the left leg is slightly advanced. Memi retains the strict canonical  pose with respect to the rigid frontal well-built body. His right arm hangs  straight down and close to his side while his right hand is clenched in  a fist with the thumb facing forward. He appears to be clenching some type  of cylinder rod, which can also be interpreted as a symbol of royalty or  power. His chest muscles, abdominal muscles and right bicep emphasize his  well-toned body. His left arm wraps around the back of Sabu's head and  drapes down over her left shoulder. His left hand rests on her left breast.    His fingers are stiff and elongated. Knuckles are visible and his left  thumb is seen in profile. Memi stands much larger than Sabu and is almost  a full head taller than she is. Their bodies are not aligned together;    Memi is slightly more advanced and protrudes a bit more from the stone  slab than Sabu. His back is not fully attached to the slab although  his legs and feet appear to be semi-attached.    Memi's face is round in shape and  is his gaze is focused straight ahead. His jaw line is not clearly defined.    The texture of his hair appears to be very thick and in layers. This possibly  could be interpreted for wavy or even curly hair. His hair partially covers  his forehead and fully covers his ears almost touching his shoulders. His  neck is very tiny and otherwise not proportioned to the rest of his body.    His eyes are oval shaped and his nose is round and wide. He has full lips  and his chin is well defined. Memi wears a garment wrapped around his waist,  which covers the lower portion of his body to his knees. He is also wearing  some type of belt that fastens underneath his navel and imitates a fan-pleated  pattern, which covers the right side of his garment. His knees and  shinbones are highly defined. His ankles are much narrower than the lower  portion of his leg and his toes resemble the appearance of his fingers.    Sabu's pose is canonical with her  left arm hanging straight down and close to her body. Her left hand rests  on her left thigh with the thumb facing forward. Her right arm circles  around her husband's waist. A portion of her right arm and shoulder are  visible showing the extension of her arm around his body. Her right hand  fingers are very stiff and close together. Her right thumb is carved in  profile. Sabu is significantly smaller than Mimi and stands closer to the  stone slab. Her back is slightly separated from the    
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