From March 11, 2026, the Gallery of the Kings welcomes the statue of the god Amun, one of the highlights of the Egyptian collection of the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe, Germany, which is currently closed to the public for renovation.
The work will remain on loan and on display at the museum for ten years: a further recognition of the Museo Egizio as a center of excellence for archaeological research and a strategic hub within a network connecting the most prestigious European institutions.
Dated between 1353 and 1334 BC, the statue of Amun represents a significant example of Egyptian sculpture from the post-Amarna period.
Acquired by the German museum at the beginning of 1965, the statue depicts the god Amun seated on a throne, with his back supported by a dorsal pillar that reaches up to the head. The god wears a kilt, a collar, and bracelets. On his head he wears a headdress on which the two tall feathers characteristic of Amun originally rested, now missing.
The exceptional nature of the sculpture lies in the resemblance between the facial features and those of Tutankhamun, particularly those of the famous golden funerary mask.
The depiction of the god with the features of the ruler had a precise political and religious meaning: it marked the return to the cult of Amun after Akhenaten’s religious revolution and established Tutankhamun as the living image and earthly representative of Amun.
With its refined style, the statue marks the transition from Amarna art—characterized by naturalism and softness—to the traditional Egyptian monumentality, and celebrated the return of the power of Amun’s priesthood and the religious re-legitimation after the persecution.
Hosted in the Gallery of the Kings, the work is placed next to the double statue in white limestone of Amun and the Pharaoh Horemheb, since it belongs to the same chronological phase and shows numerous stylistic similarities. The statue thus enters into dialogue with the monumental sculptures in the collection, particularly enriching the exhibition path dedicated to royal and divine statuary of ancient Egypt.
Purchase your ticket HERE to discover this important loan.
