Although the
Ptolemaic Period ushered in a long period of foreign rule, the Macedonian kings
of that dynasty did not interfere with the Egyptian artistic traditions of the
preceding three milennia. Ptolemy II Philadelphos, like his father Ptolemy I
Soter, the founder of the dynasty, continued the practice of building and
decorating temples in traditional Egyptian fashion.
While this is
not to say that the Macedonian rulers did not have Greek artists portray them
according to Greek artistic conventions, here the Greek ruler is shown in a
purely Egyptian guise, wearing the traditional nemes-headdress of the pharaoh.
The style of the relief, including the deeply cut navel, the horizontal
treatment of the torso muscles, the "golf ball" chin, and the
upturned smile, is common in representations from Dynasties XXIX and XXX (circa
399–342 B.C.) and was readily adopted by the Ptolemies into their iconographic
program. Visible behind the king is the figure of a goddess in another scene.
Dates: 285 or
282-246 B.C.E.
Period:
Ptolemaic Period
Dimensions: 27
3/16 x 23 5/8 x 2 3/8 in. (69 x 60 x 6 cm) (show scale)
Accession
Number: 72.127
Credit Line:
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Rights
Statement: Creative Commons-BY
