Roman Marble Venus

An ancient Roman marble statuette of the goddess Venus (Aphrodite), standing with her weight on her right leg, her drapery that still retains crimson pigment falls below her waist.

Ca. 2nd century AD.
Height: 16 in. (40.6 cm).

Aphrodite (Latin: Venus) was the Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty. She was also known as Cypris and Cytherea after the two places, Cyprus and Cythera, where she was said to have originated. Hephaestus was her husband, the child Eros her companion, and Ares one of her lovers. The dove, the sparrow, and the swan were the animals sacred to her.
In Rome, Julius Caesar and his successors claimed family descent from the Venus and the hero Aeneas. She was venerated as the mother of the Roman people as Venus Genetrix in the Roman Forum. Her image was ultimately derived from the work of the Greek sculptor Callimachus, ca. 420 BC.

Formerly in a Canadian private collection; previously Sotheby's, London, December 11, 1989, lot 106.

Inv#: 8566

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