The Mystery of Women

Einstein once said, ‘’The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.’’

I think women are a motive for the thousands of pieces of art and are truly mysterious themselves. That is what makes them so exciting. For over 500 years, people have debated what the Mona Lisa is smiling about. Some have even given up the debate, concluding that the Mona Lisa was actually a painting that Leonardo Da Vinci did of himself. Wouldn’t that be a great trick? Regardless of why the Mona Lisa is smiling, her image still captivates people around the world.

In Berlin’s Museum of Egyptian Art, I discovered a beauty that I had known about but never seen. As I walked through the museum, I encountered many objects of cultural and historical significance. While all of the pieces of art were fascinating in their own way, I had not been prepared for Nefertiti. As I looked up, my gaze met hers. Our eyes locked and I was momentarily hypnotized by the beauty of this 3,300 year-old limestone bust. It was incredible.

I moved closer and examined it. As my eyes scanned the surface, I could not believe how the sculptor Thutmose captured the beauty and pride that this woman must have had. The Mistress of Sweetness, that was one of her names. I wondered if Pharaoh Akhenaton had truly appreciated this woman. Was she a favorite of the Pharaoh or just another wife?

One more thing intrigued me: the left eye of the bust was empty. There was no pupil in her left eye. Nobody knows why. Maybe, the sculptor wanted her reflection to contain a little defect or perhaps time destroyed this fragile beauty. Because of this, her left profile appeared slightly unsightly.

Suddenly, I realized that I was not alone in the museum. There were hundreds of others around me who were just as eager to see Nefertiti. In my haste to preserve the moment, I grabbed my camera. I snapped my first photo of her right profile. The photo was perfect. I moved and took a picture from directly in front of her and again, a perfect picture! I moved to her left profile with the speed of a paparazzi photographer and snapped another photo. It was blurred!

I watched other people taking photos and they all seemed pleased with their photos. I took two more photos and again, blurred. I moved back and forth, changed the angle, but nothing I did could capture her left side. To either side of me, I could see that other people were getting perfect shots of her left profile. I could not figure this out. Sadly, I moved on to other exhibits, looking back over my shoulder at the lovely Nefertiti for one last time.

Later, I wondered why I had not been able to capture her left side. It seemed as though Nefertiti herself had not wanted me to keep the memory of her unsightly side. Could this be? Was Nefertiti a bit of a witch? Did our special moment endear me to her to the point where she did not want me photographing her left side?

Women… I will never understand them.

Oleg Zagorsky was born in Leningrad. Graduated from Polytechnic University. He loves art, theater and books. Working as an engineer he created an amateur theater and directed several classic plays by Gogol and Chekhov. He moved from Saint Petersburg to Walnut Creek nine years ago. Here he worked as a teacher for a while and directed Chekhov’’ play The Bear in Tashkevich Theater. Some of his stories in Russian were published in Vmeste.

By Oleg Zagorsky