Egyptian religious and afterlife beliefs held that the tomb statues were the living images of the deceased or of a deity. These statues preserve the physical features of the deceased and, thus, eased the presentation to the god in the afterlife and assisted in the resurrection of the deceased.

Two distinct artistic styles were used for these sculptures during the Eighteenth Dynasty. The first style was traditional and idealistic. It portrayed upper-class Egyptians as physically perfect. This style extended over the first half of the Eighteenth Dynasty.

The second style was more realistic and natural and it appeared in the second half of the Eighteenth Dynasty. This style introduced a new artistic conception of the king that emphasized his humanity.

The second style underwent three phases. First, grotesque and exaggerated features were used to portray the king. Second, more relaxed and less exaggerated features were attributed to the King. Third, in the late Amarna period, artists created sculptures that maintained the same artistic concepts, but with softened features. This could be seen in the life-sized statue of Tutankhamun and in statues of those deities who are charged with protecting the king's soul and corpse in the afterlife. Some statues are in striding or standing poses.

These statues also depict the striking rounded breasts and the bigger belly of the Pharaoh. This artistic style was followed throughout the Amarna period for Akhenaten, his family, and courtiers.

The shawabtis, or substitute figures whose purpose was to work on behalf of the king in the afterlife, are all shown wrapped like Osiris with their bodies covered and their faces revealed.