Nefertiti "unfinished"
Nefertiti "unfinished"
3D
Published 2023-08-25T09:29:34+00:00
This unfinished head of Nefertiti was rediscovered at archaeological digs in the ruins of Akhenaten's failed dream, Amarna. This was the city dedicated to the worship of his supreme deity, the Aten.
The head was located nearby the complex of the sculptor Thurmose in whose workshop was found the famous bust of Nefertiti.
"Most impressive of the finds was undoubtedly the lifesize head in quartzite…This is unfinished, the ink marks are still there for guiding lines and part of the left-hand side of the face is still rough. The sculptor, however, was unable to resist painting the lips, even before he had finished. At the base of the neck is a dowel for fitting onto a body of a different material." Composite statues like this were common in the Amarna Period statuary.
The facial features of this head match closely to the Berlin bust, and it no doubt represents the famous Queen Nefertiti. However unlike the Berlin bust, which seems to have been a model used to teach junior sculptors, the unfinished head looks like it was very much a work in progress.
| Date published | 25/08/2023 |
| Title | Nefertiti "unfinished" |
| Accession | KAS D25 |
| Medium | Plaster |
| Credit | Egypt, 1932, Tell el-Amarna, Thutmose's workshop |
| Record | https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/DEP440?q=nefertiti&page=0 |
| Artist | Unknown artist |
| Place | SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst |