Egyptian sculpture

TELL EL AMARNA 135

ing, portrait, a man of delicate health and probably peevish temper; an idealist, obstinate in forcing his opinions; a fanatic in his religion, but an artist to his finger-tips. In the portraits of him in his youth there is a delicate and ethereal beauty which is well rendered by the artist, but in many examples, whether by design or by accident, his portraiture in later life becomes mere caricature. This is markedly the case in the statues for religious purposes, and also in those found recently at Karnak. In all his statues, whether in early or in late life, the same figure is represented, the effect being of a man with some abdominal deformity or disease. The great width of the hips, the extreme thinness of the upper part of the body and of the arms, the thin, one might almost say scraggy, neck, and, in later life, the emaciated face, suggest some form of tubercular disease. The type of the face is unlike anything which goes before or which follows after. The mouth, with thick, protruding lips, the rather prognathous lower jaw, the nose, which is represented as being in a line with the forehead, suggest that the type has come from abroad. The disputed case of his parentage cannot be discussed here, but it is noticeable that his queen, Nefert-yti, is herself of the same type. The thin face, the slightly prognathous lower jaw, the thin neck, the wide hips, are all like those of her husband, but her features are softened, and the figure is naturally more rounded than that of the man.

The Louvre statue of the king (Pl. XXXIII.1) is probably the true portrait, as it is not exaggerated in the direction either of beauty or of hideousness, and was perhaps the official statue for his mortuary temple. In this statue the sculpture of Tell el Amarna is seen at its best. The face is well modelled, the neck is also indicated with a considerable amount of naturalistic precision, and although the figure is neither dignified nor beautiful, it is in all prob-