Nefertiti’s Face

“Tyldesley tackles a ubiquitous artwork by stripping back its cliches and thrusting the enigmatic portrait into the constantly shifting stream of social contexts: systemic racism, cultural imperialism and technological appropriation, to name a few… With its immersive style this book makes it clear that nothing is set in stone in the remapping of the ancient world… In her intricate and cogent prose Tyldesley gently reminds us that there is more to revive than Nefertiti’s perennial cool. Much more… [A] grippingly factual read.”—Anna Johnson, The Australian

“[A] well-written, concise cultural history of Nefertiti and her bust.”—R. Fritze, Choice

“Who better than Joyce Tyldesley to part the veil that shrouds Egypt’s most enigmatically charismatic queen, and the haunting bust of her in a Berlin museum—perhaps the most famous portrait from antiquity.”—Tom Holland, author of Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic and Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar

“Nefertiti’s Face is an adventure story, an essay on enduring beauty, a penetrating look at one of ancient Egypt’s most perplexing moments, and a perceptive account of how the modern world has interacted with the ancient, from the circumstances of the statue’s discovery to its echoes in contemporary art.”—Ingrid D. Rowland, author of From Pompeii: The Afterlife of a Roman Town