Greek, Hellenistic, ca. 3rd to 1st century BCE. Finely carved from white marble, a fragment depicting a reclining female, probably Aphrodite - the Olympian goddess of beauty, love, pleasure, sexual rapture, and fertility, with a garment hugging her hips, the drapery folds of which gracefully cascade over her legs. Up until Praxitiles' Aphrodite of Knidos, Greek sculpture was dominated by male nudes. The nude (or partially nude) goddess offered an alternative theme to male heroic nudity. Size: 4.75" L x 6.5" W x 8.125" H (12.1 cm x 16.5 cm x 20.6 cm)
Aphrodite was worshipped by many devotees in ancient Greece and the Classical World at large. A single city oftentimes had multiple shrines dedicated to the goddess. Aphrodite was believed to possess a great capacity for bringing about harmony and union and by extension order and civic protection. Furthermore, Aphrodite (Venus in the Roman pantheon) has inspired countless depictions throughout art history, among the most famous, Attic sculptor Praxiteles's "Aphrodite of Knidos" (ca. 360 to 330 BCE), the equally famous "Lely's Venus" (ca. 100 to 199 CE), Alexandros of Antioch's "Venus de Milo" ( 130 to 100 BCE), the Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli's masterful painting "Birth of Venus" (1484-86), and Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens' equally masterful "Judgement of Paris" (ca. 1636) painting.
Provenance: ex-William Froelich collection, New York, USA, collected in the 1970s
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#152887
Condition
A fragment with losses as shown, however, a strong representation nonetheless. Minor surface wear with scuffs and abrasions to high pointed areas. Scattered mineral deposits as shown. Scattered ancient losses throughout.