An ancient Roman marble statue of Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of erotic love and beauty, depicted nude, bending and turning to her right, perhaps reaching down to unfasten her sandal, her hair bound on top of her head.
Ca. 2nd – 1st century BC.
This graceful bending pose of Aphrodite was very popular among Roman patrons, and is the product of the Hellenistic age, when Greek sculptors fully explored the subtleties and nuances of the human form in a full range of positions. The pose with its rolls at the waist produces a fleshiness that can not be realized in the more common standing types. For a discussion of the prototype and a list of examples see D. Brinkerhoff, Hellenistic Statues of Aphrodite, New York and London, 1978, pp. 70-97.
cf.: M. Bieber, The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age, (New York, 1955), p. 99; fig. 394; A. Adriani, Repertorio d’Arte dell’Egitto Greco-Romano, New York, 1961, vol. II, pls. 58, figs. 179-182, and pl. 59, figs. 183-184; J. Marcade, Au Musee de Delos, Paris, 1969, p. 509, pl. XLVII.
Formerly in a European private collection since the 1950s; Pierre Berge auction, Paris, June 17, 2010, lot 307; subsequently in a New York private collection.
Price On Request
