: Statues royales et privées de la fin du Moyen Empire et de la Deuxième Période intermédiaire (1850-1550 av. J.-C.)

International audienceThe object of this publication is the study of the representation of royal and non-royal figures in Egypt in the late Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period (1850-1550 BCE).The statuary repertoire allows in-depth analysis and precise comparisons between the image of the king and that of individuals at different social levels. The book also seeks to establish an evolution of the trends observed. A message is expressed through the choice of material, statuary type, physiognomy and location in a temple, chapel or tomb. It is the discourse, readable by the contemporaries of the represented individual, that this book seeks to decode by defining the role and use of a statue, the purpose of its acquisition and installation. The statue is not just a hypostasis of the represented individual and its role is not only magic or aimed to allow a survival in the afterlife. The represented character acquires through his statute the means to be integrated into the temple precinct and to take advantage of the worship that takes place inside, as well as of the offering, which are deposited. The choice of the physiognomy, dimensions, material and position is by no means insignificant. Even admitting that the access to the temple and therefore the visibility of certain statues may have been restricted, a clear message was sent by means of these different criteria to the public supposed to watch them, daily or at least during certain ceremonies (installation of the statue or religious processions). By means of the titles displayed in the inscriptions of the statue, by the choice of prestigious materials and by the sovereign, the high dignitaries manifest their allegiance to power and their proximity to the sovereign.Concerning the members of the more modest levels of the elite, it is by mimetism regarding these high officials that they seek to claim a high rank: they adopt the same types of statuary, the same costumes and wigs, and when they do not have the means (or permission) to acquire a statue in a prestigious material, they employ stones that can gain the appearance. These images do not reflect the precise function of the individuals they represent, but they have the power to express a status, whether true or claimed. They have the power to grant, in the hereafter, a privileged rank to their holders, serving as intermediaries between men and the divine world.Table des matières:Introduction;Premières recherches sur la statuaire de l'époque;Cadre chronologique;Constitution du corpus;Le catalogue;Analyse du matériel d'étude: méthodologie;Précisions terminologiques;1. Contexte historique;2. Développement stylistique;3. Étude des différents sites de provenance et de leur matériel statuaire;4. Statut social des personnages représentés;5. Matériaux;6. Types statuaires: formats, positions, gestes et attributs;7. Différentes qualités, différentes productions: mains et "ateliers";Conclusion: le pouvoir et les apparences;Annexe: Expérimentations;Catalogue;Liste des illustrations;Bibliographie;Index;Summaries