Tadukheba

This bust, attributed as that of the 14th-century B.C Mitannian princess Tadukhipa, differs from female imagery of the same period in many respects. Her eyes are rounder and relatively smaller, her lips more pronounced. The pupils of her emerald inlaid eyes are set with natural carbon fragments.

Damien Hirst made this ancient-looking Carrara marble sculpture for a show of underwater finds inspired by a wide range of cultures. Tadukheba combines ancient Egypt’s political history and canons, such as the shape of the head, which evokes a crown, with contemporary archetypes.

Tadukheba was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection during the exhibition "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable" at the Palazzo Grassi in 2017.