The statue titled, Torso of Venus, was a replica of the original work by Praxiteles. The Romans made the sculpture in 1st or 2nd century AD during the time of the Late Antiquity period; more specifically known as the Pre-Constantine period. Like the original, the statue was made out of marble. The Torso of Venus is a statue of the goddess Venus, known commonly as the goddess of love and beauty. It was said that she was born, or emerged, from the sea foam. Venus, or Aphrodite to the Greeks, was the embodiment of beauty, sexuality, love and fertility. I believe the Torso of Venus was the Roman version of “Aphrodite of Knidos”, which was one of the most famous works of the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles of Athens in the 4th century BC.
The voluptuous goddess is sculpted nude and you can see her torso is slightly angled forward, creating creases across her waist and above her navel. The way that the abdomen is defined suggests that she was likely standing with her weight on one leg, likely her left leg, while her right leg was probably slightly bent and sticking out in front of the left. I am not certain if the legs were not made or have fallen off and only the torso remains, but I believe they have probably fallen off or were dismantled, along with the arms and the head. Overall her body is a spiral composition. She has a slight turn of the body from the hips to the shoulders, combined with the outward thrust of the right hip, resulting in a fascinating S-shaped pose. The torso is carved with careful naturalism, with an effort to achieve ideal proportions and harmony of line. However, for there is no exaggeration or unbalanced emphasis, and the figure 's essential dignity is evident. The artist has made human beauty sublimated b...
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Works Cited
Encyclopedia Mythica. "Venus." Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion. N.p., 3 Mar. 1997. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. .
Gill, N S. "Who Is the Roman Goddess Venus?" About.com Ancient / Classical History. About.com, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .
Goddess Gift. "The Goddess Venus, Goddess of Romance and Beauty (Aphrodite)." N.p., Web. 12 Apr. 2014. .
Rayment, Kate. "Aphrodite: Venus: Goddess of Love and Beauty." InDepthInfo: Information Delivered In-Depth. InDepthInfo, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .
Stokstad, M., & Cothren, M. W. (2008). Art history: Volume 1 (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Print.
The age of the figurine has been changed several times. Originally, when found, the date was estimated to be 15,000 to 10,000 BCE. During the 1970’s the time period was adjusted to 25,000 to 20,000 BCE; the date was again recalculated in the 1980’s to 30,000 to 25,000 BCE; the most recent estimate of age was in the 1990’s and was placed at 24,000 to 22,000 BCE after scientific research was performed on the rock stratification. This statuette was discovered by Josef Szombathy in 1908 near the town of Willendorf, Austria, in an Aurignacian loess deposit, which loosely defined is a yellow brown loamy geological deposit dating to the Paleolithic period. The name Venus was first associated with the figurine as a joke.
Lindemans, Micha F. "Diana." Encyclopedia Mythica: Mythology, Folklore, and Religion. 3 Mar. 1997. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. .
The Statue of a kouros depicts a Greek man in the nude. Although he looks like a man, the large scale, and the miss proportioned features makes it unnaturalistic. The toes are too long, the genetalia is unrealistically small, and the joint lines are exaggerated.
"Statuette of a standing maiden [Etruscan] (17.190.2066) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
It is determined the Antonine Woman as Venus is a woman of aristocratic status. The portrait is made of fine-grain marble, a medium only upper-class persons could afford. Also, only persons of wealth could afford to have such a protrait made. The woman is portrayed as Venus, a goddess who is connected to the imperial family, and members of a royal family would often have themselves depicted as a deity. (De Puma 26) We know she is being portrayed as Venus because of her bare breast and the upper-arm ring. The bare breast is a key to Venus because she is the goddess of sexuality and desirability. The upper arm ring can be an attribute of Venus as the Statue of Aphrodite (Venus) by Praxiletels displays the same jewelry on a nude body. (Fantham 175)
The statue is made of marble, instead of the bronze statue. This statue is one of the earliest marble statues of a human figure carved in Attica. The statue is a kind of symbol; he does not in any way a likeness. This is my first expression when I saw the statue: the statue is showing me a simple, clear action that was used by Greek youth sculptures throughout this period. Looking at this statue, he expanded into 3D space, because he is standing straight and facing forward without any exaggerated movements, thus the post makes him look closed-off and a column his limbs are locked in space. Therefore, the standing posture, the decorations on his body, his hair and knee’s texture and how the Egyptians impact Greek art, is what makes me interested in it. A question that has always been in my mind is
It has been a couple of weeks, and our first child has arrived: a girl. We have decided to name her Aphrodite, for she is the symbol of the love between Gaea and I. We will teach her to be the symbol of love for our new world to learn. They must know that love is an important thing to have in order to be happy.
Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. "Athena." Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1973. Print.
The author of the Latin poem, The Vigil of Venus, remains a mystery, along with the date it was penned. Many have speculated who might have written this piece of poetry, but no one can be certain. It is assumed that it was written in early spring on the eve of the festival of Venus, and set it what might be Sicily. The writer is focused on the natural world, and seems motivated by love, spring, and hope of the renewal of both. Some believe this particular piece is seen through the eyes of Venus, known in Greek mythology as the mother of the Roman people. Critics might argue that this poem somehow suggests the imminent fall of the Roman Empire, and while I agree with this possible explanation, I could argue
On the Acropolis of Athens, there are a large number of votive images dedicated to Athena the city goddess in various medium, including marble, terracotta, bronze, relief and vase painting. Among these votive images of Athena, most of them are represented in a standing pose, either frontally facing the viewers or showing her profile (e.g. the bronze Athena Promachos (figure 1)); some of them are captured in the middle of an action (e.g. Athena in Gigantomachy on the pediment of the Parthenon (fg. 2)). However, the so-called Endoios Athena is a statue of Athena represented in a seated position. Although the seated position is not rare in reliefs, such as Athena on the East frieze (fg. 3) and on the metopes of the Parthenon (fg. 3), the so-called Endoios Athena is the only seated marble statue of Athena on the Acropolis in the history. (Mylonopoulos, The Acropolis of Athens in the 6th and 5th Century BCE, Lecture Notes at Columbia University, March 31)
--- Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken Books. 1995, 2010. Kindle Edition. Location 2733 of 6360.
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli depicts a moment from Venus birth when she stepping, almost floating, off the seashell that was blown ashore by Zephyors along with Chloris. Horae awaits Venus arrival to shore with a large red cloak to cover her naked body .Venus is the Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, and prostitution. Venus is the Roman Aphrodite. Born of seafoam from a singled drop of blood in to the sea from the castration of her farther Uranus by his son Saturn.
In classical Greek literature the subject of love is commonly a prominent theme. However, throughout these varied texts the subject of Love becomes a multi-faceted being. From this common occurrence in literature we can assume that this subject had a large impact on day-to-day life. One text that explores the many faces of love in everyday life is Plato’s Symposium. In this text we hear a number of views on the subject of love and what the true nature of love is. This essay will focus on a speech by Pausanius. Pausanius’s speech concentrates on the goddess Aphrodite. In particular he looks at her two forms, as a promoter of “Celestial Love” as well as “Common Love.” This idea of “Common Love” can be seen in a real life context in the tragedy “Hippolytus” by Euripides. This brings the philosophical views made by Pausanius into a real-life context.
Krén, Emil. Web Gallery of Art, image collection, virtual museum, searchable database of European fine arts (1000-1850). Emil Krén, Dec. 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.