AKHENATON, NEFERTITI, AND THREE DAUGHTERS, Amarna, Egypt, 18th Dynasty
A sunken relief stele provides a rare look at this royal family. Undulating curves have replaced rigid lines, and the figures possess the prominent bellies that characterize figures of the Amarna period. The pharaoh, his wife, and their three daughters bask in the life-giving rays of Aton, the sun disk. The mood is informal and anecdotal. Akhenaton lifts one of his daughters in order to kiss her. Another daughter sits on Nefirtiti’s lap and gestures toward her father, while the youngest daughter reaches out to touch a pendant on her mother’s crown. This kind of intimate portrayal of the pharaoh and his family is unprecedented in Egyptian art. Matching the political and religious revolution under Akhenaton was an equally radical upheaval in art.