Analysis: Menkaure and Khamerernebty

The figure is a frontal view although Menkaure’s head seems to be slightly turned to the right. His left foot is slightly advanced but his upper body seems unaffected by it. His shoulders are unmoved and his hips remain even which does not fit the way a person stepping forward would actually look. Menkaure’s arms fall straight to his sides and his hands set grasping protruding pegs. His legs are relatively straight as well. The statue has a solid and majestic feel because it is actually carved out of a block of stone, keeping the entire body embedded to it. Perha

Queen Khamerernebty II is also in a frontal view with the same connections to the block of stone, but her left leg is not as forwards as the Kings, which may mean she is of less stature/importance. She has one arm around the King’s waist from behind, and the other across her stomach, holding his left bicep. This could mean she is standing behind him, as a devoted lover, or perhaps giving her allegiance to him as a Queen. Menkaure definitely is the strong and confident one of the two, and can also be interpreted as independent. The Queen, however, does not stand alone, but attaches herself to her King. His shoulder is actually in front of hers, and her shoulder is attached to it from behind. It must be understood though, that the two of them together are a sign of royalty. It looks like a proud and strong King, with a loving and dedicated Queen, deserving of the utmost spiritual respect.

I do not believe the King and Queen physically looked like this, and more likely were generalized images to increase social diversification. The idealized anatomy of the bodies combined with natural details became a fundamental character of Egyptian art. It also carried on to affect Greek sculptures. The frontal stance and advanced left leg appear many times in Greek statues such as in the Kouros from the Greek Archaic period, 575-550 B.C. The Greek definitely had much more artistic liberties with space in between arms and torsos, or between legs, turned heads, or waists, and the archaic smile of an upturned lip. But these liberties decreased the life span of the art. Limbs would inevitably break off. The size and carve of Menkaure and Kha

Some topics in this essay:
Menkaure Giza, Khamerernebty II, King Queen, Queen Menkaure, Class Notes, Basically Egyptians, BC Greek, BC Fragment, II Queen’s, Goddess Hathor, khamerernebty ii, king queen, class notes 6/16, egyptian art, block stone, notes 6/16, class notes, goddess hathor, frontal view, left leg, space arms, queen khamerernebty ii,