Body Parts: Ancient Egyptian Fragments and Amulets at Brooklyn Museum artmuseumjournal.com

Special Exhibitions

Body Parts: Ancient Egyptian Fragments and Amulets at Brooklyn Museum

Egyptian, New Kingdom or later (1539-30 B.C.). Right Eye from an Anthropoid Coffin. Obsidian, crystalline limestone and blue glass. 2.1 x 5.8 x 2.6 cm (13/16 x 2 5/16 x 1 in.). © The Brooklyn Museum.

Egyptian, Ptolemaic Period (305-30 B.C.). Headless Statuette of a Female. Faience. 10.6 x 5.2 cm (4 3/16 x 2 1/16 in.). © The Brooklyn Museum.

By STAN PARCHIN
November 1, 2009

Body Parts: Ancient Egyptian Fragments and Amulets at the Brooklyn Museum (November 19, 2009-October 2, 2011) features 35 artifacts in stone and wood. Some are distinct sculptural entities while others are derived from larger compositions. Many are displayed publicly for the first time. Unlike most exhibitions of antiquities that emphasize the reconstruction of damaged works, this long-term installation focuses on the amount of attention the Egyptian sculptor paid to the realistic rendering of the human body's individual anatomical features.

The objects on view, all from the museum's collection, include completed as well as fragmentary sculptures. Studying these works allows the modern observer to understand more easily the ancient notions of body and pose and appreciate the Egyptian artisan's respect for each element of a statue.

To better explain the sculptures, fragments and amulets in Body Parts..., the exhibition makes direct connections to other Egyptian works of art in the Brooklyn Museum and to hieroglyphs.

Source
Wilkinson, Richard H. Reading Egyptian Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Egyptian Painting and Sculpture. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1994.

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