Ancient Egypt’s golden age has landed in Boston — and it’s more dramatic than any blockbuster. The Museum of Fine Arts presents “Maverick Kings: Three Visionary Pharaohs of Egypt’s Golden Age,” on view now through December 6, 2026 in the Ann and Graham Gund Gallery.
The exhibition spotlights three 18th-Dynasty rulers who understood the power of image long before social media: Hatshepsut, one of the few women to rule as pharaoh (about 1473–1458 BCE), whose statues were smashed and name erased after her death — only to be rediscovered as one of Egypt’s greatest rulers; Amenhotep III (about 1390–1352 BCE), who reigned at the height of Egypt’s prosperity; and his son Akhenaten (about 1352–1336 BCE), the revolutionary who worshipped a single sun deity and had himself depicted with his queen Nefertiti in a strikingly new style.
Nearly 100 objects drawn from the MFA’s world-renowned Egyptian collection — each provenance-reviewed — meet eight exceptional loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Kimbell Art Museum. Don’t miss the only 18th-Dynasty royal sarcophagus outside Egypt, a nearly six-foot-tall falcon statue, and a sculpted portrait of the boy king Tutankhamen. The show closes with contemporary art proving Egyptian imagery never went out of style.
Curated by Lawrence Berman, the exhibition requires a timed-entry ticket. The MFA is at 465 Huntington Avenue. Details at mfa.org.
Photo: Seated statue of Hatshepsut (detail), Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, about 1479–1458 BCE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY.
