NEW KINGDOM, LATE 18TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1390-1295 B.C.

Composite statues depicting members of the royal family became popular during the Amarna period. Notable for their naturalism and sensitive modeling, W.C. Hayes describes one such portrait of Akhenaten as ushering in a new phase in Amarna art: "...we have left behind the violent initial phase of Amarneh art and entered into the second stage, when good taste and superior technical ability had combined with the zeal for naturalism to produce portraits of great discernment and sensitivity, and often great beauty" (see no. 176 in The Scepter of Egypt II). For a related composite head depicting an Amarna princess with similar sfumato eyes once originally painted, see no. 103 in C. Aldred, Akhenaten and Nefertiti.