Date of Award

12-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts in Art History and Visual Culture

Department

Art

First Advisor

Dr. Chajuana Trawick

Second Advisor

Larry Pahl

Third Advisor

Dr. Gabriela E. Romero-Ghiretti

Abstract

This paper specifically questions the authenticity of the queen Nefertiti high hat bust currently exhibited at the Berlin Neues Island Museum as a modern fraud. Several factors back up this claim such as the fact that the discoverer, Ludwig Borchart created a carving of plaster of paris that covered the original limestone bust which was made by the royal sculptor, Thutmose. A major point in this composition is the examination of the forty depictions of queen Nefertiti as a black African woman showcasing African facial features. The queen Nefertiti high hat bust at the Neues Berlin Island Museum does not represent the African beauty standard that these other forty depictions of her showcase and is instead Europeanized. The way the bust was handled in the first ten years of its discovery is worth analyzing because Ludwig Borchardt and James Simon didn’t want the bust to be publicly presented. Furthermore, surrounding ancient Egyptian artworks like the Narmer’s palette and the princess Nefertiabet Stele have been included in this paper to elucidate the real origins of ancient Egypt which can be said is black African. In conclusion, the queen Nefertiti high hat bust that was created by Ludwig Borchardt is a white supremacist modern fraud and the film, Django Unchained (2012), fully supports this view which was presented in 2009 by two internationally successful art historian and historian in response to the Berlin Egyptology Museum commission of CT scans to resolve this authenticity controversy.

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