Nefertiti Head

about Nefertiti Head

Nefertiti, perhaps one of the better known Egyptian queens, she and her husband, Akhenaten, led Egypt in a religious revolution by choosing to worship only one god, Aten.

Her likeness was popularized by the bust, attributed to the sculptor Thutmose, which resides in Berlin’s Neues Museum. This gouache is modeled after that bust, but rather than facing her head-on, we are shown a view of Nefertiti on profile, her slight smile is inviting, and creates a more lifelike portrait of the great queen.