A Visual Analysis of the Goddess Sekhmet, a Colossal Statue of the Powerful Goddess Essay

Visual Analysis The Goddess Sekhmet Walking around the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the artwork that caught my eye immediately was The Goddess Sekhmet. Long ago, this large, commanding figure at the corner of the museum, was originally placed in the Mut Temple at Karnack and later moved to the west bank of the Nile before entering the museum. The Goddess of Sekhmets broad and dominating form heightens the power and boldness of the statue. This granite statue depicts Sekhmet, the goddess of war. Despite her being a prominent figure of power, her head is replaced with that of a lioness. The artist appears to be someone who thinks woman are not capable of leading as men are because he didn't include Sekhmet's head. The statue is large enough to be taller than most people. It's broad width also get's viewers attention. Sekhmet is sitting straight up with her legs together. Her hands are placed upon her thighs in a very respectable, calm position. She is seated upon a wide throne that is in an L shape and her feet are firmly on the ground. Her feet and hands are proportionally bigger than the rest of her body because of the way Egyptians drew high-powered figures. Despite her enormous feet and hands, Sekhmets waist is small and curved to show the attraction of a woman. Sekhmet is wearing an extremely long skirt that goes down to her ankles with only a layered necklace. She has an Egyptian decorative piece below her mane that stops right above her breasts and a circular headpiece with a snakes upper body in the center of it. Theres a bit of light brown fading with the black granite caused by erosion over the years. It is most prominent at Sekhmets knees and stomach. She is perfectly symmetrical all throughout the sculpture with the exception of her left hand holding a cross. The sculpture is in great condition,...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Character Analysis of Annie Wilkes in Misery by Stephen King Essay

What does it take to frighten an author of best-selling horror novels? In Misery, Stephen King embodies a writer's fears about himself as a writer and about the continuation of his creativity in a richly elaborated and horrifi-cally psychotic woman, Annie Wilkes. In the novel, Annie represents a mother figure, a goddess, and a "constant reader". In reality, however, An-nie merely represents a creative part of King's mind.Annie Wilkes is a proud mother of two children--a historical-romance novelist, Paul Sheldon, and his extremely popular heroine Misery Chastain. Annie must nurse and educate Paul. Gottschalk elaborates, "Annie views Paul in a madly maternal way. Early in her custody of Paul, she brings him pills for his excruciating pain, but he must suck them off her fingers in a grotesque parody of a nursing child" (125). If she leaves him untended too long, Paul wets his bed, and she must change his sheets and clothes. When he is tired or frustrated, he we...
Read more

An Analysis of the Character of Chichikov in the Poem, Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol Essay

Dead Souls takes place in the Russia of the late 1800s, where, unlike in America, one must be born into a prosperous family in order to have opportunities. The main character, Chichikov, is clever enough to develop a scheme in which he can rise from being a petty clerk to a respected landowner. In order to do this, Chichikov moves into a new town, pretending to already be a landowner, and begins a quest to buy the names of dead serfs who have not yet been officially reported dead. Each person that Chichkov presents this offer to has a different reaction, starting with the shy and introverted Manilov. Though he does not understand Chichikov's need for the names of these dead serfs, Manilov is a character that is so desperate for company that it does not take any effort to trick him into selling his dead souls cheaply. However, as Chichikov continues his journey, he starts to deal with more clever landowners who become suspicious of his scheme. Chichikov finds that the townsmen know...
Read more

Religious Symbolism in The Blessed Damozel, a Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti Essay

Dante Gabriel Rossettis poem The Blessed Damozel is full of religious symbolism. There is talk of saints, and the poem itself takes place in heaven. But underneath the religious symbolism is a deep sensuality, that makes one wonder if the white rose of Marys gift referred to in line nine is the gift of Mary the Virgin, or the somewhat less virginal Mary Magdalene. While the Damozel is in heaven, her appearance in heaven, her behaviors in life, and what happens when she and her lover are reunited suggest some less than virginal dealings, yet the damozel is blessed and resides in heaven. Rossetti was the child of liberals kicked out of Italy a heavily catholic country for their extreme political views. While Rossetti himself was not political, he may have espoused similar views regarding politics and religion as his parents. In the poem The Blessed Damozel, Rossetti was given the chance to essentially create his own heaven. Most everything he wrote seems to show that Rossetti espoused ...
Read more