Egyptian sculpture

154 EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE

survive. The Persians returned and drove out the native dynasty, and were themselves defeated and finally expelled by Alexander the Great.

STATUES

The slate statue of Painezem (Pl. XLII. 2) is of the period of the priest-kings, as the uraeus and the sculptured title show. The material is fine-grained, and therefore one can conclude that this is a good example of the art; the style should be compared with the slate figure of Menkaura, in the triad. The eyes are of the large type with the sharp angle at the nose; they project beyond the brow and the line of paint is continued to the temple as a raised band; the eyebrows are also a raised band. The drill-holes at the corners of the mouth are still 7 situ, which gives a smiling appearance. The ear is not greatly exaggerated and the modelling is fairly naturalistic, but the smoothness of the face, the want of any real appreciation of the underlying structure, show the decadence of the art. The king kneels, and has had in his hands two little offering-vases; the hand should be noticed for the absolute ignorance and clumsy work of the sculptor. The modelling of the body is better than the work in a less kindly material. This is an example of the brutal method—so rare in Egyptian, and so common in Assyrian, sculpture—of carving the inscriptions actually on the figure. It shows how little the sculptor appreciated the form of his own work that he should be capable of such barbarism.

The figure of Nesi-pa-Her-em-hat carries on the form of squatting statue which first makes its appearance in the XVIIIth dynasty, the most celebrated of these being the statue of Senmut holding the little daughter of Queen Hatshepsut. The man is always represented as sitting on