Statuette of a Lion-headed God, probably Horus of Buto
Late Period (664–332 BCE)
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 25.4 × 13.7 × 6.4 cm (10 × 5 3/8 × 2 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Egypt
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Purchased with funds provided by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Egyptian gods were commonly depicted with human bodies and animal heads. The animal referred to the god’s personality or characteristics, not his or her appearance. For example, this version of Horus, in the guise of the son of the goddess Wedjat, is shown with a lion head, expressive of power. The Greeks and Romans took these mixed forms literally rather than symbolically, and some Classical authors, accustomed to gods in human form, derided the Egyptians for their “ridiculous” gods, dismissing them as “dog-faced Egyptians, dressed up in linen.” Statuettes like these were offered to the gods to askfor their help or in thanks for their assistance.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
