Power & Presence

Across time and place, sculpture has represented authority through scale, posture, material, costume, and religious or political symbols.

View Head Of Gudea ↗

10 works · allow 15–30 minutes

About this exhibition

Compare the works from several angles. Look for the visual choices that establish status: scale, facial expression, gesture, surface, and supporting figures.

The works

Explore the works.

Open any work for its available 3D view and source record.

Head Of Gudea

Ancient Near East and Egypt · ca. 2090 BCE

Portrait of Nefertiti

Attributed to the workshop of Thutmose · c. 1345 BCE

Goddess Sekhmet

Unknown Egyptian artist(s) · 1320–656 BCE

Augustus Of Prima Porta

c. 20 BCE

Bust of Trajan

Mediterranean · 2nd century CE

Moses

Michelangelo · 1513-1515

Nkisi Power Figure

Kongo artist and nganga (ritual specialist) · 19th–first half of 20th century

Ancestor Figure Teke

Teke artist · 19th century

White Ogre Tihu Katsina Figure

Americas and Oceania · ca. 1900

Standing Buddha Radiate Combined Halo

Asian · ca. late 6th century