Production
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where
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Benin [kingdom]
Photographer: | Rights management: Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 4.0 InternationalCommemorative heads for kings show the typical insignia: several rows of necklaces and the round cap made of coral beads. In contrast to the art of the 18th and 19th centuries, the reduced formalisation is seen as an expression of naturalistic art, which is due to the influence of Ife, an important centre of Yoruba culture. However, these are not naturalistic portraits in the European sense. Rather, they are ideal portraits that do not depict an individual, but visualise the concept of a king.