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Statuette of a canid-headed god, probably Anubis

Ptolemaic Period
332–30 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 899
Among the several canid-headed gods that existed, Anubis was the most prominent and is likely the deity represented in this exquisitely carved and painted statuette. The god stands atop a pedestal decorated with a niched façade. His elaborate tunic has a feather pattern and is overlapped by a hip drape. The drape is painted with stripes of two different shades of green that create an impression of different depths. While one might want to see these stripes as a depiction of pleated linen, an almost identical statuette in the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim (1582), clearly shows them as long, layered feathers. The parallel piece in Hildesheim must have been produced in the same workshop.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Statuette of a canid-headed god, probably Anubis
  • Period: Ptolemaic Period
  • Date: 332–30 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Plastered and painted wood
  • Dimensions: H. 42.3 × W. 10.1 × D. 20.7 cm 16 5/8 × 4 × 8 1/8 in.)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Myron C. Taylor, 1938
  • Object Number: 38.5
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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