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Head of Nectanebo II
Egyptian
Late Period, Dynasty 30, reign of Nectanebo II
362–343 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Granodiorite
Dimensions
Overall: 30 x 24.5 x 24cm (11 13/16 x 9 5/8 x 9 7/16in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated anonymously, Thomas H. Lee and Ann Tenenbaum, Egyptian Curator's Fund, Marilyn M. Simpson Fund, Mrs. William F. Shelley, Walter and Celia Gilbert, Florence E. and Horace L. Mayer Fund, Joan and Jerry Cross, Mr. and Mrs. Mark R. Goldweitz, Elizabeth H. Valentine, Mr. and Mrs. Miguel de Bragança, Clark and Jane Hinkley, Honey Scheidt, Barbara and Joanne Herman, Marietta Lutze Sackler, Velma and Robert Frank, James Evans Ladd, Allen and Elizabeth Mottur, Frank Jackson and Nancy McMahon, and Meg Holmes Robbins
Accession Number2000.637
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionThis superb portrait of Egypt’s last native pharaoh is the product of three thousand years’ expertise in carving hard stone. The volumes of his helmet-shaped crown — the Blue Crown, or khepresh, are sleek and streamlined, almost aerodynamic. The artist reveled in the mottled texture of the stone, and polished it to a glistening sheen in a painstaking process reserved for the most important statues.
Nectanebo II was known as the favorite of the gods, renowned for his piety, devotion to the sacred animal cults, lavish gifts of land, restoration of cult statues, and founding of new temples. Thirty sites from the Delta to Elephantine and as far west as Siwa attest to his extraordinary building activity: fourteen completely new structures plus extensions to existing sanctuaries and gifts of temple furniture. Such expenditures would have been remarkable at any time but were particularly so when the country was under constant threat of invasion from the Persians.
In 343 B.C. Nectanebo II was defeated by the Persians. Nothing is known of his death. Legend has it that he escaped to Macedonia. A skilled magician, he appeared to Queen Olympias in her bedchamber disguised as her husband Philip, and sired the future Alexander the Great. It is certain that he was honored under the Ptolemies, for whom he provided an ideal role model as pharaoh. A cult that worshipped Nectanebo II as a divine falcon, the epitome of kingship, persisted at least until the reign of Ptolemy IV.
Nectanebo II was known as the favorite of the gods, renowned for his piety, devotion to the sacred animal cults, lavish gifts of land, restoration of cult statues, and founding of new temples. Thirty sites from the Delta to Elephantine and as far west as Siwa attest to his extraordinary building activity: fourteen completely new structures plus extensions to existing sanctuaries and gifts of temple furniture. Such expenditures would have been remarkable at any time but were particularly so when the country was under constant threat of invasion from the Persians.
In 343 B.C. Nectanebo II was defeated by the Persians. Nothing is known of his death. Legend has it that he escaped to Macedonia. A skilled magician, he appeared to Queen Olympias in her bedchamber disguised as her husband Philip, and sired the future Alexander the Great. It is certain that he was honored under the Ptolemies, for whom he provided an ideal role model as pharaoh. A cult that worshipped Nectanebo II as a divine falcon, the epitome of kingship, persisted at least until the reign of Ptolemy IV.
ProvenanceBy 1939, said to be in a European private collection [see note 1]. 1950 until at least 1985, Georges Felus (b. 1921 - d. 2015), Paris; from Felus to an anonymous collector [see note 2]; December 15, 1992, anonymous sale, Christie's, New York, lot 106. By 1993 until at least 1995, private American collection [see note 3]. December 18, 1997, anonymous sale, Christie's, New York, lot 73, to Edward and Fay Safani; Safani Gallery, New York; 2000, sold by Safani Gallery to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 21, 2000)
NOTES: [1] According to a signed statement by Georges Felus (November 8, 1985), to the best of his knowledge the head was outside of Egypt before 1939, had been owned privately since then, and was in his own collection since 1950. [2] According to the 1992 Christie's catalogue, the head had gone from a "private European collection [Felus] since 1950, to the present owner." [3] On loan to the Brooklyn Museum of Art from July 1993 until July 1995.
NOTES: [1] According to a signed statement by Georges Felus (November 8, 1985), to the best of his knowledge the head was outside of Egypt before 1939, had been owned privately since then, and was in his own collection since 1950. [2] According to the 1992 Christie's catalogue, the head had gone from a "private European collection [Felus] since 1950, to the present owner." [3] On loan to the Brooklyn Museum of Art from July 1993 until July 1995.