Large kneeling statue of Hatshepsut: museum analysis

Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut is an example of Egyptian religious art. Most of Egyptian art had a religious significance either relating to the gods or to the Egyptian pharaohs (who were given a near-divine status even while they lived on earth). According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the statue dates from the Middle Kingdom and "stood in the temple of Mentuhotep II, just south of Hatshepsut's monument. According to the inscription on the base, 'Maatkare' (Hatshepsut) is represented here as 'the one who gives Maat to Amun.' Maat was the goddess of order, right balance, and justice, and for a king to offer an image of Maat to another deity meant reaffirming that this was the guiding principle of his/her rule."[footnoteRef:1] The inscription stresses how the virtues of the goddess were embodied in the ruler. [1: Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Available: http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/100000735 [3 Mar 2013]]

To a modern eye, Egyptian art seems relatively static and impersonal, in contrast to the more fluid and realistic images of ancient Greece and Rome. The art had a symbolic function, more than aesthetic function. Many Egyptian statues have a static, similar quality. They are representational rather than designed to convey the individualistic qualities of the gods or rulers. After all, individualism might suggest a certain amount of imperfection or humanization, and the statue seems meant to inspire reverence and distance between the gazer and the qualities the statue is supposed to represent.

The statute has very little emotion in its expression. It could be an image on an Egyptian hieroglyphic, which was the pictorial language of the Egyptians. It is very static and 'posed' rather than seeming to be caught in the motions of doing something. The position of the statue seems very unnatural. However, it has been noted that compared with other Egyptian statues of the period, the curved feet and soft outlines of the body show at least some attempts at naturalism and realism, although not on par with Greek or Roman art.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Abeer El-Shahawy, Farid S. Atiya, The Egyptian Museum in Cairo (American University in Cairo Press, 2005): 160.]

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, even the way in which the statue is dressed is symbolic: "the pharaoh wears the nemes headdress, and around her neck is a chain of tubular beads from which hangs an amulet of somewhat enigmatic form (a double pouch pierced with a thorn)."[footnoteRef:3] The statue holds two circular globes in each of its hands, probably designed to represent order and balance. It is possible that the globes represent globes of milk as offerings. [footnoteRef:4] [3: Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut, The Metropolitan Museum of Art] [4: El-Shahawy & Atiya, 160.]