Body Parts: A Feast For the Eyes
In a previous post about the statue of Hemiunu, I mentioned that his eyes, which were probably made from coloured stones, were gouged out by robbers.
The Brooklyn Museum yesteday made the announcement of an upcoming exhibition Body Parts which will feature a range of other body parts from ancient Egyptian works of art in their collection. One such item is this beautiful eye made of obsidian, crystalline limestone, and blue glass which once belonged to a New Kingdom anthropoid coffin.
From the Brooklyn Museum’s website:
Body Parts features thirty-five objects that represent individual body parts in ancient Egyptian art from the Brooklyn Museum’s collection, many of which will be displayed for the first time. While traditional exhibitions of ancient art focus on reconstructing damaged works, this exhibition uses fragmentary objects to illuminate the very realistic depiction of individual body parts in canonical Egyptian sculpture. The ancient Egyptians carefully depicted each part of the human body, respecting the significance of every detail. When viewed individually these sculptures and fragments reveal ancient notions of the body, as well as details of workmanship, frequently unnoticed in more complete sculptures.
This exhibition is organized by Yekaterina Barbash, Assistant Curator of Egyptian Art, Brooklyn Museum.
Where: Special Exhibitions Hall, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn Museum.
When: November 19, 2009–October 2, 2011.
Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum, under a CC by NC ND 2.0 license
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Hey – the museum is right – you really do notice a lot more about one single part than if it were a complete sculpture -they have a clever idea there.
[...] Vincent Brown has an eye on a new ancient Egyptian exhibition coming up at the Brooklyn Museum, Body Parts: A Feast for the Eyes. Vincent also has some beautiful shots and analysis of Khufu’s architect, Hemineu: Friday [...]