A search in Google images under “timeless beauty,” where anonymous digital filing clerks have placed selected photos for this vague category, reveals how hard the concept is to pin down. There’s a redheaded courtesan by Rubens, and photos of young Jacqueline Bouvier and Grace Kelly in their wedding gowns. Somali model Iman and actresses Carole Lombard, Angelina Jolie and Vivian Lee as Scarlet are there–plus Elizabeth Taylor multiple times, Marilyn Monroe multiple times, Audrey Hepburn multiple times and Sophia Loren multiple times.
But most symbolically, Google’s glamorous sorority also includes the ancient bust of Nefertiti, an Egyptian pharoah’s wife. This likeness was fashioned in her lifetime by the royal sculptor Thutmose. With a swanlike neck, high cheekbones, perfect lips and arched eyebrows above almond-shape eyes, Nefertiti’s beauty after 3,400 years is still stunning.
But what is even more timeless has recently been revealed by high resolution scans done of the bust. Underneath the smooth stucco surface is a fully realized limestone sculpture.
There’s the real woman: with creases around the corners of her mouth and cheeks, less prominent cheekbones and a bump on her nose. It seems that even a queen who lived in 1300 B.C. could feel the need to be remembered as more beautiful, as measured by the standards of the day. She would have adored Photoshop.
However, a lady who needed no retouching in our photos is Beverly Johnson who illuminates our cover this month. In something like 30 photos we reviewed, there wasn’t a single one we couldn’t have published just the way it was taken. With a new grandchild, a new television show and a new beauty line to juggle, she’s an absolute marvel.
This month we also look at the haunting beauty of the veneer Jay Gatsby adopts in his single-minded pursuit of Daisy, examined at the film noir festival. And there’s the timeless beauty of Europe in summer that has enticed three valley residents to maintain homes there. We also explore another lasting visual treat: a pleasing smile. Lastly, you’ll enjoy Tracy Conrad’s ode to the valley’s pre-El Paseo days in Yesterday. You really could wear one or two of those outfits today.
