Amon and Mout

Reproduction in patinated resin by hand. Mold made from a print of the original work exhibited at the Louvre.

This small group, of a rare exquisite execution, portrays the god Amon and goddess Mut, wearing their attributes. Amon is represented in a very hieratic pose, dressed in a feathered bodice and wearing the two high feathers which adorn the headdresses of all celestial divinities. Mut, the symbol of maternity, wears the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt placed on vulture feathers, and embraces the god Amon with her left arm. The unusual elegance of this divinity is further accentuated by a female costume seen only very occasionally in portraits of queens and goddesses up to Cleopatra. A hieroglyphic text engraved on the back pillar defines the purpose of this sculpture in the round : a hymn to Amon-Re and Mut is dedicated by Merimaat, a simple private person, thus placing himself under the protection of the masters of the Karnak temple. On the base, a frieze of prophylactic signs evoking life, stability and prosperity, symbolizes the divine essence from which these two divine forms are descended.
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