By Jennifer Keil, M.A.
We encourage you to read Artsy’s How Nefertiti Became a Powerful Symbol in Contemporary Art for additional art interpretation of this icon.
“For all the lore that surrounds Nefertiti’s image, very little is known about the life of the “beautiful one,” as she is called. In fact, Nefertiti largely disappeared from the historical record by the 12th year of her husband Akhenaten’s reign, when she was around 30 years old. Yet as an ancient muse, her cultural potency is only enhanced by this mystique. Without it, she would not be fit for the artistic and political projection that remains foundational to her posthumous reception.”
Bust of Queen Nefertiti
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca. 1340 BC
Limestone, gypsum, crystal and wax
Amarna
Height 50 cm
Inv.-No. ÄM 21300
“This bust is one of the first ranking works of Egyptian art mostly due to the excellent preservation of the colour and the fine modelling of the face. She was found in 1912 during the excavations of the German-Orient-Association in city of Achet-Aton, today known as Amarna. The individualized face and the special crown, tall, flat-topped decorated with a ribbon and the remains of a uraeus at the front identify the statue as Nefertiti. The bust served , as did many other masks found in the workshop of the Tuthmosis, as a model for artists producing portraits of the queen. She is shown as a grown woman with a harmonic and balanced beauty which is not disturbed by the slight folds under the eyes and chin as well as the slightly sunk cheeks.
The bust is made of limestone which is covered with modelled gypsum. The eye is inlayed with crystal and the pupil attached with black coloured wax. The second eye-inlay was never carried out.”
The BBC reported an Egyptian tomb have been opened. The “Sarcophagi buried for 2,500 years unearthed in Saqqara. A total of 27 sarcophagi buried more than 2,500 years ago have been unearthed by archaeologists in an ancient Egyptian necropolis.” Our cultural fascination with dynastic rulers never ceases.