Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian) · statue
Plaque Depicting a Ram
Description
The two sets of horns on this exemplary portrayal of a ram reflect ancient Egyptian sculptors’ simultaneous close observation of nature and strict adherence to artistic tradition. The elongated corkscrew horns atop the ram’s head belong to a species that was already long extinct when this plaque was carved. Rather than abandoning the conventional representation of this animal, artists added a set of curved horns to reflect the appearance of contemporary rams. On similar plaques portions of the original gridded surface remain in the top corners and along the bottom to emphasize the depth of carving. Egyptian artists utilized grids to maintain correct proportions in their work.
Cross-references (1)
- ARTIC-id 121768 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.