Art Gallery of New South Wales, sculpture

This is one of four relief panels which adorns the facade of the Art Gallery of New South Wales along Art Gallery Road at The Domain. The original wing and facade were built between 1896 and 1909. The Trustees decided to beautify it with a series of six bronze relief panels designed to depict the six "distinctive historical art periods" of the Assyrian, Egyptian, Grecian, Roman, Gothic and Renaissance but only the four older of the six intended panels were ever completed. The Egyptian period is represented by "Queen Hatasu of Egypt" created by Countess Feodora Gleichen in 1906 and unveiled in 1907. It depicts Queen Hatasu, or Hatshepsut, giving directions for the construction of her famous avenue of Ram-headed Sphinxes, from her temple, Deir-el-Bahari, to the bank of the Nile, and thence to the farther shore of the Temple of Karnak. The name "Raphael" is one of 32 artists lettered in bronze below the entablature.

Linked to: Monday Mural, Amaze Me Monday, Through My Lens.