Egyptian statue in the Louvre Museum, Paris..................by K J S Chatrath

 

 

 Two years back I visited the Louvre Museum once again and came bewildered at the art stored there. This is one of the statues in front of which I spent some time. This is the Egyptian god Horus. 

Horus is also known as ‘Albani Horus’/ Lower portion made of Egyptian alabaster and the upper portion made of Italian alabaster. There is an interesting background to this statue. Its lower part (seat, legs and forearms) once belonged to a large statue of pharaoh Ramses II. 

The upper part, entirely reconstructed, possibly in the workshop of the Italian sculptor of Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1716- 1799), is an attempted imitation of  a statue of pharaoh/ The statue was once displayed in the center of the Villa Albani in Rome.. The gallery is a good example of the Egyptomania that developed from 1750. (Photos by KJS.Chatrath and the write up is based on the information available in the Museum).