Akhenaten and Nefertiti Offering Before Aten
Culture: Egyptian
Date: ca. 1352-1336 B.C.
Period: New Kingdom
Dynasty: Dynasty 18
Place found:
Medium: Limestone
Dimensions:
22 7/8 x 52 11/16 in. (58.2 x 133.9 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Gilbert M. Denman, Jr.
Object number: 91.80.164
Provenance: Found at Hermopolis, 1930s or 40s. With Khawam Brothers, Cairo, 1940s [note 1]. Private collection, U.S.A., by 1965 [note 2]. With Jack Ogden, London, by 1987; sold by Jack Ogden to Gilbert M. Denman, Jr. (1921-2004), San Antonio, 1988; Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., by gift to San Antonio Museum of Art, 1991.
Note 1: according to correspondence with Bertrand Khawam in 2022-2023.
Note 2: published in J. D. Cooney, Amarna Reliefs from Hermopolis in American Collections (New York: Brooklyn Museum, 1965), p. 9, no. 3a.
Label Text
Akhenaten and Nefertiti stand before an offering table supporting large jars of ointment as they raise their hands in adoration of the sun god Aten. Sunbeams from the Aten once descended on the royal couple and their offering as the finger of a terminal sunbeam hand may be seen between unguent jars. The treatment of Nefertiti's figure, which is clearly indicated beneath her diaphanous gown, is sensitive and the forms of the body have been carefully rendered. Similar attention to detail is to be noted in the treatment of the couple's garments with their painstakingly carved pleats and sashes. (Gallery Label, 8/2002).
On view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
