Head of Amenhotep III Wearing the Blue Crown (c. 1391–1353 BCE): Art, History and Details

Head of Amenhotep III Wearing the Blue Crown (c. 1391–1353 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

During the long, peaceful reign of Amenhotep III, Egypt reached a pinnacle of wealth and splendor. This magnificent portrait captures the ruler's exotic features to perfection. He has large, almond-shaped eyes, elegant arched eyebrows, and a full mouth. His face is youthful and without blemish. The bone structure is lost in the fleshy fullness of the face. The contrast between polished and roughened surfaces is a hallmark of hard stone images of Amenhotep III. The flesh areas were smoothed to a glistening sheen, while the eyeballs and the crown were left rougher. The roughening of the crown also had a practical purpose, for the upper portion was originally painted blue and the browband was painted yellow. The paint would have adhered better to the unpolished surface.

Object facts

• Title: Head of Amenhotep III Wearing the Blue Crown
• Date: c. 1391–1353 BCE
• Culture: Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: granodiorite
• Dimensions: Overall: 39.1 x 30.3 x 27.7 cm (15 3/8 x 11 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Egypt - New Kingdom
• Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Accession number: 1952.513

A detail from the museum

The Blue Crown or Khepresh was worn by New Kingdom Pharaohs into battle as well as in ceremonies.

Collection credit

Gift of the Hanna Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Vandier, Jacques. Manuel d'archéologie égyptienne. Paris: A. et J. Picard, 1952.
• Lee, Sherman E. "A Royal Portrait of Amenhotep III." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 40, no. 8 (1953)
• "Art and Archaeology at the Cleveland Museum of Art." Archaeology 6, no. 4 (1953) pp. 195-202.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.