A new artistic style
It is evident from the art of the Amarna period
that the court officially emulated the king's unusual physical characteristics.
Thus individuals such as the young princesses are endowed with elongated skulls
and excessive adiposity, while Bek-the Chief Sculptor and Master of
Works-portrays himself in the likeness of his king with pendulous breasts and
protruding stomach. On a stele now in Berlin Bek states that he was taught by
His Majesty and that the court sculptors were instructed to represent what they
saw. The result is a realism that breaks away from the rigid formality of
earlier official depictions, although naturalism is very evident in earlier,
unofficial art.
