Statues in Context: Production, Meaning and (Re)Uses

Abstract

• Moving beyond typological and stylistic discourses on Egyptian statuary, the papers gathered here seek to explore the architectural, cultic and production contexts of statuary, to shed light on religious or cultural practices, and the political or economic agenda behind the display or hiding of these sculptures. How and why were they originally displayed or kept invisible, transported, transformed or buried? New discoveries, the re-contextualisation of earlier excavated statues as well as recent scientific analyses provide significant new insights into the production, meaning and (re-)uses of statues. This collection of papers encompasses the full typological and chronological range – from the Old Kingdom to Late Antiquity – and include statuary of all scales, from colossi to figurines. The studies cover statues set up in temples, palaces, houses and tombs, and the later biographies of statues’ assemblages.