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Nefertiti

Published:
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Description

"Nefertiti"
10 x 20"
Acrylic on canvas board
Temporarily NFS ~ Reserved for summer/fall shows

Thank you ahead of time for any favorites and comments!

T-shirts, notebooks, etc., with this design are available here: [link]

**For the record, some of the brighter whites were lost to scanning. I had to scan Nef in pieces, and she wouldn't flatten completely against the scan bed.


Her majesty has been entered in Egil21's traditional portrait contest: [link]

I've been in quite the Egyptian mood lately, thanks in part to the introduction of a 9" TV/DVD player into my studio--I can once again paint to "The Mummy" movies and my "Egypt Uncovered" documentaries! The latter of course tout Queen Nefertiti's famed beauty, and after having delighted in painting Peter Cushing's wrinkles, smile lines, and irregular features, I thought that her majesty could do with a more realistic treatment.

The bust of Nefertiti by the sculptor Thutmose (or more properly, his workshop) may be the most popular image of the queen, but my personal favorite is actually a little brown quartzite head housed in Berlin. The warm brown quartzite has a very soft, skin-like finish, and the perfect features of the bust are rendered more softly, with the hint of dimples in her cheeks, a feature shared by other quartzite sculptures of her. As for the wrinkles, small blemishes, and skin shine.... She was the Lady of the Two Lands, wife to the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, bore six daughters (and maybe more children that didn't survive), and had duties to tend to in her husband's roofless, solar temples. However well she may have taken care of herself, time would have had its say.

As Nefertiti is seldom shown with earrings, I chose to forgo them (rather gratefully, too, after painting that collar!). Scholars have guessed that Nefertiti's distinct crown was made out of leather, and the colored rectangles in the surrounding band represented semi-precious stones--both represented texturally here. As Nefertiti's personality can vary wildly depending on who is interpreting it, I kept her expression relatively neutral, as befits a queen holding court. Those might be smile lines, or marks of disapproval. Are her eyes truly warm, or is that only their color covering her inner coolness? I have my own ideas on the matter, and that is the glory of history--having enough facts about someone to feel you "know" them, while recognizing that you never really can.

References:

Arnold, Dorethea. The Royal Women of Amarna: Images of Beauty from Ancient Egypt. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.

Pharaohs of the Sun: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamun. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1999.

Aldred, Cyril. Jewels of the Pharaohs. New York: Ballantine Books, 1971.

Other portraits in my black and white series:



***


Prints, mugs, and more are all available at my Cafepress store! Visit Arden's Miscellany here [link]

Visit my online gallery & portfolio at [link]

Join me on Facebook! Look for "Arden Ellen Nixon" and become a fan.

None of my images are to be used without express written permission. Woe to any who choose to steal, for so mighty is my art wrath, not even I know its bounds.
Image size
500x1012px 66.21 KB
© 2011 - 2024 ArdenEllenNixon
Comments74
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iarinavision's avatar
Great work and detail. Nefertiti is my favourite too, because it is the unlocking surrounding Egypt's most regal, powerful and beautiful Queen. Little is known about the origins of her, but her legacy continue to intrigue so many today.