Our second portrait shifts away from the naturalistic movement of the Old Kingdom and begins to undergo a change towards expressive realism. During the Middle Kingdom, “the artist seems to be less concerned with…divinity than with conveying an official mood [and] human characteristics.” The pharaoh Sesostris III is the best example of this phenomenon. Coming into power shortly after the First Intermediate Period, Sesostris' portraits expressed this uncivil rest. The kings face with its upward eyebrows and tried eyes displays a expression of sorrow, disdain, and worry. A radical change from Old Kingdom portraits that showed no form of individual expression. The king's expression reassures the viewer that we are looking at an individual person,
