Bust of Nefertiti

Bust of Nefertiti

Dynasty 18, New Kingdom, ca. 1340 BC

Thutmose

Limestone with modeled gypsum, crystal, and wax

50 cm tall

Egypt, Amarna, workshop of the sculptor, Thuthmose

Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany

Nefertiti was the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten during the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt. She was mother to six daughters and the step-mother of Tutankhamun, the next pharaoh of Egypt. Her and her husband changed Egypt religion into a monotheistic religion worshipping the sun disk god, Aten, and moved the capital of Egypt to Amarna.

Description:
The bust depicts Queen Nefertiti's head, neck and chest. The extent of her chest does not go past her ears and ends just above her breasts. A gold collar necklace hangs around her neck with red, blue, and green floral decorations. Her skin is painted a golden, brown color. She has a long, slender neck jutting forward, leading up to her head. Her face is completely symmetrical, with a serene expression and a very subtle smile. There are lines on either side of her mouth, which is painted reddish-brown. Her eyes look straight ahead with only her right eye fully inlaid. The iris is black wax with a quartz pupil painted black. Her left eye remains untouched limestone. Her eyes are decorated with the typical black makeup to resemble kemet, with the inner corner of her eyes downturned. She wears a special crown, unique to Nefertiti. It is painted a deep blue and flattened on top. There is a painted ribbon wrapping horizontally around the crown and knotted at the back with the ends wrapping back around towards the front. The ribbon is painted in alternating red and green blocks of color. On the front, middle of the crown is a sculpted uraeus that goes back onto the top of the crown, now broken off. Her ears have been pierced and have also suffered from damage.

Significance:
The bust found in the workshop of the sculptor, Thutmose, leads to the claim that this bust was an artist's model for producing portraits. This is further supported by the fact that only the right eye was inlaid. The left eye was intentionally unfinished to show other artists how to carve her eye to allow for the inlay of wax and quartz. By jutting her head forward, her neck is elongated and emphasized. This bust also shows more individualization of the queen, different from past portraits that were idealized. The face lines around her mouth show age, and the painted canthus is an attempt to imply the folded flap of skin of the inner eye. These attempts at realism move away from the idealized youthful portraits of the past. Another feature of individualization is her flat-top crown, which is unique to Nefertiti portraits. The black eye makeup is a typical feature of Egyptian portraiture to represent kemet, the black earth of the Nile banks and its fertility. Her reddish-brown skin is indicative of masculine abilities, putting her on par with Akhenaten, moving her role from supporting him to playing a bigger role in ruling Egypt. They were both children of Aten and divine rulers together. Her crown was meant to hold the uraeus, further illustrating her power and her ears were pierced to wear jewelry and show her wealth.

http://www.egyptian-museum-berlin.com/c53.php

Tharoor, Isaac. "The Bust of Nefertiti: Remembering Ancient Egypt's Queen." TIME Magazine. Time, 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2018.

Ertman, Earl L. “Nefertiti's Eyes.” Archaeology 61.2 (2008): 28–32. Print.

Isabella Laurel