Block-statue of an Unknown Man

The body wrapped tightly in a long robe has the geometric shape of a block, from which the name of this type of statue derives. Only the contours of the folded arms resting on the knees protrude from the flat surface. The figure wears a wide wig covering the forehead and reaching down to the shoulders. The contours of the body are barely discernible while the man himself is squatting on a rectangular base slightly rounded off at the back. The statue is not supported by a back pillar, and it bears no inscription, which indicates that it is an unfinished composition.
Based on its stylistic features, the Budapest statue can be dated to the Kushite Period. The gravity of the face and the accentuated, wide nostrils were characteristic of the sculptural portraits of the period. The lack of a back pillar can be mainly seen in works made at the end of the Twenty-fifth (Kushite) Dynasty and at the beginning of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.