Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/272

 242 A History of Art in Ancient Egypt. The features seem in no way Egyptian. The form of the nose, the upturned corners of the eyes, the curves of the Hps, and the C^eneral contours of the face are all sue^'estive of Armenian blood. ^ Others have thought it showed traces of negro descent. In the first-named statue these characteristics are less conspicuous because its execution as a whole is less careful and masterly. The same physiognomy is to be found in a porphyry sphinx belonging to the Boulak collection."^ There is a strong contrast between the features of Thothmes and those of Amenophis III. the founder of Luxor. Of this we may judge by a head, as well preserved as that of Thothmes, which was found behind one of the statues of Amenophis at Gournah. It also is in the British Museum. The face is long and finely cut, with an expression and general appearance which we should call distinonisJicd ; the nose is loner and thin ; the chin well chiselled and bold in outline.^ Obliged to draw the line somewhere we have not reproduced this figure, but in Plate XI. we crive a female head, discovered by Mariette at Karnak, and believed to be that of Taia, the queen of Amenophis III. Whether rightly named or not, this colossal fragment is one of the masterpieces of Egyptian sculpture.'^ Mariette enumerates various reasons for believing Taia to have been neither of royal nor even of Egyptian blood. She might have been Asiatic ; the empire of her husband extended as far as Mesopotamia. The point has little importance, but as M. Charmes says, " when we stop in admiration before the head of Taia, at Boulak, we feel ourselves unconsciously driven by her charms .... to forge a whole history, an historical romance, of which her enigmatic personality is the centre and inspiration, and to fancy her the chief author of these religious tragedies which disturbed her epoch and left a burning trace which has not yet disappeared." ='' M. Charmes here alludes to the changes which Amenophis IV. 1 Gabriel Charmes, La Reorganisation du Mitsk de Boulak. - Mariette, Notices du Musce, Nos. 3 and 4. '•'• T!ie head of Amenophis III. maybe recognized in the bas-rehef reproduced in our Fig. 33, Vol. I. The fine profile and large well-opened eye strongly resemble those of the London statue. ■* Mariette, Voyage dans la Haute- Egvpte, vol. ii. p. 31. ^ G. Charmes, De la Reorganisation du Music de Boulak.