ArtSourced: Egyptian Art @ Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum has the largest collection of Egyptian art in the country, even larger than that at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They always have additional Egyptian exhibits as well. For example, right now they have an exhibit on mummies. I got to see it before I left for school...very interesting (and also a bit creepy).

Below is my very favorite Egyptian painting of all time, "Inner Cartonnage of Gautseshenu" (circa 700-650 B.C. from Thebes). It is part of the permanent Egyptian collection at the Brooklyn Museum. I first discovered this piece during my freshman year at Pratt, so I try to look at it every time I visit the museum (These images are from summer 2007).

Egyptian mythology is incredible. Centered on the chest of this sarcophagus is a scarab beetle with the head of the hawk god Horus, along with falcon wings.

Other incredible Egyptian art from their permanent collection:

A broad collar necklace. Definitely has a strong influence on fashion.

A votive statue of the jackal god Anubis, god of the dead. One of his many duties is to weigh the hearts of the newly dead, to determine if they are worthy of entrance to the Underworld.

An ibis statue, representative of the god Thoth, who is known for his wisdom.

He can also be seen in the following sarcophagus painting, along with Horus, hawk god of the sky.

To learn more about the Brooklyn Museum click HERE. (Keep in mind that all Pratt students get in for free with their school ID.)

NOTE:

There will be a fair amount of posting images from past exhibits I have seen over the past few years in addition to new work I have discovered, or rediscovered. If I ever add to these posts at a later date, I will make a note of it so that viewers are free to check out the updates.

Addendum (September 2008):

Additional images from the Egyptian section of the museum.