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The most attractive women are found in books, posters, on tv, and on advertisement boards to send out the message of what an ideal woman should look like. No matter how much time goes by, there will always be that ideal woman that every man wants. Thus, we make sculptures and images to represent the kind of women we want and what every woman should look like. Over the ages, there have been different sculptures formed of the perfect women, such as overweight and short then transitioning to tall and thin. This paper will discuss one of the most ideal woman sculptures are the “Venus of Willendorf” and over the time the ideal woman transitioned to “Peplos Kore.” Also, it will be about these two sculptures have a significant turning point in social or cultural development and what ways have these sculptures impacted the 21st century society. “Venus of Willendorf” represents a significant turning point in humanity’s social or cultural development because she was known as the first ideal woman of the Paleolithic era. Venus was only four inches tall and she had exaggerated breasts and bellies at that time this structure represented a fertile woman. According to the article Obesity: A Venusian Story of Paleolithic Proportions, “Humankind's obsession with body fat is not new. The current obsession …show more content…
As in some cultures today, some people think if a woman is little overweight, she will be able to bear a child whereas, a thin woman will not be able. Also, another culture, is men would divorce their wife because she is infertile and that is a humiliating for the man in society. According to Russ Meyer article“She is hen, nest, egg…” (Chang 1). This proves that even today “Venus of Willendorf” has impacted people around the world today and she was made almost a century
Given the accuracy of the representation of the anatomy depicted in the Venus of Willendorf, that is the way the breasts hang and the way the “fat” sags at the knees, it is very possible the image was actually made after a real person (Witcombe, sec. 4) lending credence to the belief the figurine was carved to symbolize a woman of importance. If made after a real person, that female must have had considerable significance within her community to have grown so corpulent which supports the idea of matriarchal society (Witcombe, sec. 4). Witcombe further speculates that these statuettes may have served as a representation of the Mother Goddess, also referred to as Earth Mother and that the deity may have been represented in the form of a leader or matriarch.
The concept of beauty is a subject society speaks on through many channels. Social media plays a tremendous role in how society measures beauty and how to achieve these impossible standards. People from all walks of life have become obsessed with the idea of beauty and achieving the highest level it. In many cases, those who do not meet societal views of what is “beautiful” can become very resentful to these predisposed notions of beauty. David Akst in his writing “What Meets the Eye”, is bitter toward women and their ongoing obsession with beauty.
It offers and understanding that women were held at a different standard then than they are now. This figurine shows that women had a larger mid-section but was because they either needed the body fat for long, cold winters or the better idea was because it showed they were fertile and they were able to produce babies and keep the legacy going on. It also provides a better image of what the men and women had to go through in order to survive, like the long hard winters, the needing to hunt for food and could mean sometimes not having food. Venus of Willendorf was not considered an obese women, “where features of fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable”, (PBS, 2006). I can use this article because it explains the whole point about a women’s image. Women were not looked at how skinny and “good looking” they were in a pair of jeans. Women, in this time, were looked at as if they can be fertile or not. Being able to have children was a huge thing in this time since it was one of the point of living, to have a
Venus of Willendorf is a very popular Paleolithic art. The artist made the sculpture to represent what was going on during those times. I also think it gives off a representation of power for women, and being a strong woman. Fertility is one of the most powerful things about a woman and I also think that it could possibly signify confidence. That is why she could be made in the nude as well. Although nobody knows the facts of what the actual prehistoric art means, we can use our analysis to figure out the point the artist was trying to
With works in every known medium, from every part of the world, throughout all points in history, exploring the vast collection of the Museum of Modern Art was an overwhelming experience. The objects in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts are an important historical collection, reflecting the development of a number of art forms in Western Europe. The department's holdings covered sculpture in many sizes, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, jewelry, and tapestries. The gallery attracted my appreciation of the realistic qualities of the human body often portrayed in sculpture.
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 tasks Venus require Psyche to perform are to separate the grains, get the precious wool from the fleeces, and to return with the box of beauty from Proserpina. As stated in the story, Venus said, “Take and separate all these grains into their proper parcels, and see that you get it done before evening.” The first task Venus ordered Psyche to do was to separate the wheat, barley, millet, beans, and lentils used to feed her pigeons. In addition, after Psyche performed this task with the help of the ants, Venus wanted Psyche to get the fleeces from the sheep. On page 1135, it said, “Venus ordered Psyche to be called and said to her, ‘Behold yonder grove which stretches along the margin of the water. There you will find sheep feeding without a shepherd, with
The Venus of Willendorf was believed to be created 25,000 years ago, is none-freestanding sculpture and is sculpted out of oolitic limestone. The subject matter, I believe it to convey a fertility figure for men and woman to gaze upon. The Venus of Willendorf is a none-freestanding female nude stature, which is an 11 centimeters high, made out of oolitic limestone and now resides in Naturhistorisches Museum. She was found in 1908 in Austria in a village called Willendorf. The stature has been carved out of oolitic limestone and has been given a red ochre tint. This small oolitic limestone figure representing a woman in the nude has no known artist and no information on why it was created. I believe that
Paleolithic Venuses are prehistoric sculptures that are traditionally thought, by experts to be images that adore and glorify female fertility. There are three reasons why most historians who study the Paleolithic era support this traditional idea. One, most analysts only use a sampling of the 188 figurines and most of them are pregnant. Secondly, the name Venus itself conjures up the notion of fertility. Thirdly, most analysts assume that during the Paleolithic era that childbearing was something that was sacred and thus needing to be glorified with a statue. Rice offers an alternative point of view of the motivation for the creation of the Paleolithic Venuses. Rice's position on Paleolithic Venuses is that they do not solely represent women's fertility, but instead symbolize womanhood.
The Venus of Willendorf and the Venus de Milo are two ancient day venus sculptures representing two different views on beauty. The Venus of Willendorf is a small 4.5 inch limestone figure of a Goddess which is believed to be used as a fertility symbol, while the Venus de Milo is a tall ancient Greek statue of a Goddess which is said to represent love and beauty. The Venus of Willendorf’s body structure is very different than that of Venus de Milo. The venus of Willendorf appears to be a short lady with a large emphasis on her reproductive organs, breasts and stomach area whereas the Venus de Milo appears to be very tall with smaller breasts, and a really athletic build. She appears to have abs and looks as if she has not had children before, while the Venus of Willendorf looks like she has had children due to her huge breasts and stretched out belly button. The Venus
The Venus of Willendorf is one of the earliest sculptures of the body made by humans during the Paleolithic era. She was made from limestone native to her location and covered with red orche. Despite standing only 4.4 inches, the purpose of the Venus of Willendorf is widely debated. Some will say the exaggerated breasts, navel, and vulva connects her to fertility as a representation of a mother goddess. Others, such as those in my class, believe her to be a figure of body image. The stumpy female figure features hanging breasts, an obese middle and belly, and distinct buttocks in all, represents a realistic form of a severely overweight woman. Due to the hash ice-age environment of where she’s from leads one to believe fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable. Whether the sculpture was based on a fantasy or a real life model the infatuations with the idea of self-acceptance through body
Models of Rubens, Rembrandt, Gaugin and Matisse were all rounded, plump women.A plump and healthy women was admired as it reflected wealth and success.(14). Where as images of women have become slimmer since the 1950’s according to Jennifer A. (Australian journal of nutrition and dietetics).
orbit is the most circular of any planet, with an eccentricy of less than 1%.
During my first look at Antonio Canova’s Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss, the detail in the woman being saved by a kiss from Cupid astonished me. I was especially impressed by the feathers on the wings and the smoothness of the skin. I find it absolutely amazing that in a time of limited, or any, modern technology, someone could create such delicate features and texture on a hard surface. This piece must have taken years to carve. I feel that this beautiful sculpture portrays love, compassion, and ironically, humanity. I do not know who the woman is, or why she needs a kiss from Cupid, but she seems to welcome it desperately.
Venus in Botticelli's painting is a Renaissance beauty. During the Renaissance women were believed to look more attractive if they had some weight to them. It was believed that this weight make them more prepared for child birth, and basically healthier. Venus has weight in the painting. Without this weight I do not feel that she would have such a strong impact on her viewers. Another strong point of Venus's presence is her wonderful long and flowing red-orange hair. It flows around her body keeping her pose modest, yet revealing. In all of this beauty it can be easy to overlook the unnatural length of Venus's neck, and the steep fall of her shoulders. Venus's outline is wonderfully graceful, and it is the grace that makes the print so wholesome and beautiful. If Botticelli would have chosen a slimmer or less natural Venus the harmony of the picture would have been destroyed.