Lioness Sekhmet
Beautiful and Fearsome
I developed this subject in different sizes, mediums and timelines, always keeping the same reference. The Lioness Sekhmet.
This is the second statue you will encounter after that of the goddess Isis. I took this photo during my last visit at the Egyptian museum in Turin, an experience that almost revolutionized and gave an incredible new light and traction to my creative processes and especially to my self-taught research into the vast ancient Egyptian culture. I will describe below the creative processes and different works I made inspired by this ancient lioness.
1 - ‘Hot Wind Sekhmet’
The statuary subject is represented here in an austere position, and my hint was to generate a clear contrast with the nuanced background that emulate the hot air. When the hot wind of the desert blew, the Egyptians believed that it was precisely the breath of the fearsome Sekhmet, “the mighty one”, capable of repelling enemies; therefore, the goddess was adopted by several pharaohs as the patroness of the military and a symbol of their own power.
2 - ‘Diorite Sekhmet’
Term diorite identifies the material of the statuary subject. Its dangerousness was manifested, above all, in the last five days of the year, called ‘Days of the Demons’, during which litanies were raised throughout all Egypt with the aim of taming the goddess and appeasing her devastating effects. The magical formula written in front of the subject acts as an emulation of this historical/mythological element.
3 - ‘Zen Sekhmet’
The background of this painting is full of scars and has been covered with gold as that identifies the recovery and the cathartic method of the artist aimed to re-build his strenghts after the fall. As often happens for female divinities, the peculiarity of Sekhmet violent side is associated with a second one, opposite, but equally relevant: healing. In fact, in addition of being able to send plagues and diseases to Earth, Sekhmet was also able to heal them. Precisely because of this second aspect of her, the pharaoh Amenhotep III, old and sick, dedicated over 600 statues to the goddess, with the intention of being healed
Ominous and menacing, Sekhmet is one of the most dangerous goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon. According to belief, manifested herself in the form of a lioness, an animal that appeared very often at the mouths of the wadis, causing great disturbance. This Goddess was also the protagonist of one of the bloodiest myths of Ancient Egypt, that of the destruction of men ‘The Myth of the Celestial Cow’ , in which, sent to Earth to destroy the human species, intoxicated by the blood of men, escapes the control of gods.
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