Statue of Horemheb and Amun

Horemheb stands beside the god Amun, who is taller to indicate that he is more important than the king himself. The style of the statue is typical of the period immediately following the religious and artistic revolution of king Akhenaten. The muscles are not emphasized, the contours are soft, the belly and hips rounded, the faces juvenile, the eyes almond-shaped, the cheeks and lips full and sensual.

Some scholars believe that this was a statue of Tutankhamun later usurped by Horemheb. However, distinguishing between the faces of these two kings is especially difficult, and the inscription does not show any trace of erasure and rewriting.

Often in the same statue, multiple characters can be depicted, such as members of the same family or the sovereign alongside deities. In statue groups, the so-called “hierarchical perspective” is frequently observed: the more important characters are represented in larger dimensions, while the secondary ones are smaller, usually at the sides of the primary figure.

Statuary groups that associate the king with the gods aim to display the divine nature of the sovereign, as in the case of this statue where the god Amun and king Horemheb are depicted together. The veneration of these statues ensures the king’s survival through institutional provision, divine protection, and at the same time, deifies him.

New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty, reign of Horemheb, ca. 1319-1292 BC. Made of limestone. Dimensions: 209 x 90 x 112 cm. Now in the Egyptian Museum of Turin. Cat. 768