Queen Nefertiti: Truly or ideally beautiful?
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Image by mharrsch via FlickrI first thought that the scientists here were seeing more than the CT in their interpretation, since this type of sculptures are usually created by roughing out the proportions in the carved stone core and refining the details in the surface modeling. Other articles indicate that the layer of stucco is too thin (1-2 mm) and that the limestone core is indeed a finished statue.
Ever since its first public exhibition in 1923, the precision of the 3,300-year-old bust of Nefertiti’s symmetrical lines and its finely wrought features have drawn thousands of admirers from around the globe, but the ancient Egyptian queen may not have been such a looker after all, German scientists believe.
The 20-inch bust, discovered by German archeologist Ludwig Borchardt during excavation of the studio of the famous royal sculptor Thutmose, consists of a limestone core covered in layers of stucco of varying thickness.
Researchers first analyzed the bust using CT technology in 1992 but advances in technology allowed to delve deeper into the sculpture. Compared to the outer stucco face, the researchers found the inner face had less prominent cheekbones, a slight bump on the ridge of the nose, creases around the corner of mouth and cheeks, and less depth at the corners of the eyelids.
The changes were possibly made to make the queen adhere more to the ideals of beauty of the time, the researchers said.
Thin-section CT was able to provide detailed images of the inner structure in a completely nondestructive manner and showed the limestone core to be not just a mould but a skilfully rendered work of art, said a press release from the institute.
German researchers have used a modern medical scan to uncover a secret in one of ancient Egypt’s most treasured artworks – the bust of Nefertiti has two faces.
A team led by Dr Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute at Berlin’s Charite hospital and medical school, discovered a detailed stone carving that differs from the external stucco face when they performed a computed tomography, or CT, scan on the bust.
The findings, published on Tuesday in the monthly journal Radiology, are the first to show that the stone core of the statue is a highly detailed sculpture of the queen, Huppertz said.
“The hypothesis was that the stone underneath was just a support.”
The differences between the faces, though slight – creases at the corners of the mouth, a bump on the nose of the stone version – suggest to Huppertz that someone expressly ordered the adjustments between stone and stucco when royal sculptors immortalized the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten 3,300 years ago.
The bust underwent a similar CT scan in 1992. But the more primitive scanner used then only generated cross sections of the statue every 5mm – not enough detail, Huppertz said, to reveal the subtlety of the carving hidden just 1-2mm under the stucco.
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