Torso of Tutankhamun
By STAN PARCHIN
May 11, 2010
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.). Mannequin of Tutankhamun. Painted wood. H. 73.5 cm (28.9 in.). W. 41.5 cm (16.3) in.). D. 30.3 cm (11.9 in.). Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. |
Archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the gessoed and painted wooden Torso of Tutankhamun (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.) in the Antechamber of the pharaoh's tomb. The realistically rendered effigy stood partially hidden behind one of four dismantled chariots in a rectangular room piled full of boxes, chests, ritual couches and other funerary furniture. Undisturbed for centuries, these objects were intended to accompany the ancient Egyptian boy-king in the afterlife. The first likeness of the ruler that one encounters in the special exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs is unparalleled in its serene appearance. The life-sized work's use in antiquity remains the subject of debate.
Portrait of the Pharaoh
The armless statue's oval face is painted a dark reddish brown, the color Egyptian artists reserved for male skin. Distinguished by its high cheekbones, full lips and small chin, the subject wears a yellow flat-topped cylindrical crown somewhat reminiscent of ones associated with both the god Amun and Tutankhamun's heretical father Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 B.C.) at Amarna. Covered in gold leaf, the headdress' protective uraeus (cobra) on its brow is painted red and blue.
Torso's Possible Uses
Carter hypothesized that the Torso of Tutankhamun was a mannequin that held the pharaoh's robes and jewelry. Perhaps a tailor's dummy for garment fittings, marks on the object's surface indicate that it possibly displayed a jeweled corselet like one found in the tomb. The simple half-length statue with its yellow tunic was likely kept in a temple or palace for ceremonial costumes.
In scale and appearance, the torso unmistakably resembles a painted wooden bust of Tutankhamun as the Sun God Nefertem on a Lotus (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.). Found by Carter in the tomb's debris-filled entrance passage, the figure enabled the king to be reborn each day as the solar deity through the process of imitative magic. Some scholars conjecture that the Torso of Tutankhamun served a similar religious purpose. Others theorize that the statue's role was funerary in nature. Its exact function remains unclear to this day.
Sources
Allen, Susan J. Tutankhamun's Tomb: The Thrill of Discovery (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006, 24-25, 93.
Edwards, I.E.S. Treasures of Tutankhamun (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976, 31-32, 98-99.
Hawass, Zahi. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2005, 14-15.
James, T.G.H. Tutankhamun. New York: MetroBooks, 2000, 190-191.
Reeves, Nicholas. The Complete Tutankhamun: The King, The Tomb, The Royal Treasure. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1990, 155-157.