Block statue of dignitary

Block statue of dignitary, light-green breccia, III Intermediate Period  (1070-655 BC), origin unknown (inv. n. E 0.9.40013)

The block statue, a particularly common form of statue for non-royal subjects, is a stylised representation of a figure crouching, knees close to the chest and wrapped in a robe, from which protrudes a fully sculpted head. The hands and, more rarely, the feet are instead carved in relief. The wide flat surface of this type of sculpture is generally covered with cult related inscriptions and descriptions of the lives of the clients, mostly people who held important religious and civil positions. In the Milanese block statue, the inscription, unfortunately incomplete, carries an invocation to the goddess Hathor by the owner of the statue, who remains anonymous due to the missing segment of text.
The stylistic rendering of the wig and facial features lead us to date the sculpture to the 3rd Intermediate Period, and more specifically, though not certainly, the 25th Dynasty (746-655 BC).