This statue of Queen Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten (1353–1335 bc), was discovered below the foundations of the palace of Merneptah at Memphis in Egypt. It now rests in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo as part of the world's finest and most celebrated collection of Egyptian artefacts. The collection and its history are described in The Cairo Museum Masterpieces of Egyptian Art (Thames & Hudson, £45), edited by Francesco Tiradritti, with abundant, splendid photographs by Araldo de Luca.