The Royal Women of Amarna: Images of Beauty in Ancient Egypt - Tapa dura

Surveying the depiction of the female form during Egypt's Amarna period (circa 1353-1336 BC), this is the catalogue of an October 1996 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. During the reign of Amenhotep IV, also known as Akhenaten, Egyptian art saw a brief flowering of expressive, intimate images. This period is especially interesting because many well-preserved pieces exist, including portraits of Queen Nefertiti and her six daughters. The book traces the evolution of the elegant image of Nefertiti during the reign of Akhenaten, as well as the respresentations of her children, which are remarkable for their sensuous and youthful eroticism. Other depictions of royal women from the court at Armana include a delicately carved bust of a princess that shows a close affinity to works of art from the tomb of Tutankhamun. Many of the pieces came from the workshop of Tuthmose, sculptor to the king and one of the few artists of Ancient Egypt whose name is known.

Dorothea Arnold is Lila Acheson Wallace curator in charge of the Department of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum.