Problems with sphinx paper. I believed that the Yellow Sphinx of Abu Roash was gendered female (thanks for the refinement Enrique), but now I wonder. The red head here is king Djedefre at who's pyramid complex the sphinx was found. It was found outside the mortuary temple where several statues of Djedefre's kids had been placed facing south (one of these statues survived). But it was outside. So maybe it flanked the entrance. People assume sphinxes did that. If it did, then it could have been a generic sphinx form, in which case it shouldn't have been painted yellow because that would make it female. Or, it could have been part of a pair representing the king as old man and young kid. It would have been the young kid part. But think it might be Djedefre's step-daughter Meresankh III. She is the one on the right in the pair picture here with her mother. The hair is so much alike. But now I think about it, and most kids have this type of helmet-looking hair-do. And the sphinx has what might be a proto-nemes headcloth which would mark it as definitely a representation of the king. Maybe. I don't know what to do about it and the paper is due on Monday.
1 comment:
it shouldn't have been painted yellow because that would make it female. Or, it could have been part of a pair representing the king as old man and young kid. It would have been the young kid part.
Germaine Greer in The Beautiful Boy argues that during the Renaissance down to the academic painting period, few female models were used as that would have been scandalous. Instead young men and adolescent boys were used to model female paintings, and that is why we see unusual proportions for female characters. This could also go the other way: female gender signifiers could be used to represent adolescent men. Could it be that yellow was used to represent not just females, but biological males of a young age? Could there be a shift in gender treatment during late adolescence unto early adulthood in representation? Tut's inner casket was after all yellow from gold.
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