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© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
Portrait of a King
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
ClassificationsAncient Near Eastern Art

Portrait of a King

Possible OriginTurkey, Asia
Possible OriginIran, Asia
CultureUrartian
PeriodUrartian Kingdom
Date750-640 BCE
MediumClay, pigment
Credit LineGift of Michael C. Carlos in honor of Dr. James T. Laney
Dimensions7 x 6 3/4 x 3 1/2 in. (17.8 x 17.2 x 8.9 cm)
Object number2005.030.001
Label TextThe kingdom of Urartu, situated in modern-day Turkey, was the biblical land of Ararat. The Urartian kingdom was a powerful rival to the Assyrian Empire, and its heavily armed soldiers were feared throughout the region. This colorful portrait of one of the Urartian rulers evokes the painted stone reliefs of the Assyrian court and would have decorated a provincial palace.

Made of glazed, painted brick, this image would have been part of the colorful decoration of a throne room. The Urartian king is shown with the long hair, beard, and cloak of an Assyrian ruler. Despite its military might, the kingdom of Urartu was swiftly, mysteriously, and totally destroyed by the end of the seventh century, and its territories occupied by the Medes and later by the Persians.
Exhibition HistoryFrom Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 2006 - February 12, 2018
Michael C. Carlos Museum Morgens West Foundation Galleries of Ancient Near Eastern Art, November 10, 2018 - Present
Published ReferencesRoyal-Athena Galleries, Art of the Ancient World Volume XIV (2003), 74, number 214.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2005 - February 2006.
Emma Beatty, "The Year Ahead: Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome," The Art Newspaper (2006).
Peter Lacovara and Jasper Gaunt, "From Pharaohs to Emperors: Egyptian, Near Eastern & Classical Antiquities at Emory," Minerva 17 (January/February 2006): 9-16.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 36.
ProvenanceEx private collection, Paris, France. With Jerome Eisenberg (1930-2022) [Royal-Athena Galleries], New York, New York, from 2003. Purchased by MCCM from Royal-Athena Galleries.
Status
On view
Collections
  • Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art