This small face of Akhenaten is made of lapis lazuli. It is smoothed down at the back. The forehead has broken off at an oblique angle. The transition from the face to the crown is preserved only on the right side of the forehead. The tip of the nose is damaged. The beardless face is elongated with a narrow jaw and a rounded pointed chin. The cheeks appear hollow because of the high oblique cheekbones. The narrow oblique eyes are indicated only by the upper lids framed by the rounded eyebrows. No contours or pupils have been marked on them. The slender nose has wide wings and drilled nostrils. The mouth has full protruding lips, and downwards from the corners of the mouth runs a curved slight swelling. These are the characteristic features of the portraiture of Pharaoh Akhenaten, despite the horizontal line of the chin in this portrait, which in Akhenaten's reign would have been represented drooping, and the absence of the typically sharp jaw line. The eyes, albeit narrower, resemble those of the king's parents, Amenhotep III and Tiy. This fragmentary face, which preserves only the front part, has the appearance of a mask. The use of lapis lazuli is noteworthy, because blue was the colour associated with the god Amun.
KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM [09/001] VIENNA


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