A Roman Marble Venus Height 35 inches.

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY C.E.

exquisitely carved, still atop its original round socle plinth, the goddess depicted nude, balancing on her right leg, supported below her left elbow by a tree trunk at her left side, reaching down with her right arm toward her raised left ankle, her left knee bent, her body leaning forward, creased across her waist and twisting to the left, her sensual form with dimples low on her back, her youthful face with idealized features, her gaze directed down toward her left foot, with thick upper and lower lids, her center-parted wavy hair bound in a fillet and tied at the back in a chignon at the nape of her neck, fine rasp work visible throughout, the surface highly polished along her body.

Height 35 inches.

Provenance: Acquired from Robin Symes, London, June 8, 1987 Note: Venus was the Roman goddess of love, known as Aphrodite to the Greeks. The image of the goddess Venus untying her sandal as she prepares for her bath is an iconic one, known from numerous examples in various media and dimensions. Based on a Hellenistic original from the late 3rd century B.C.E., it was especially favored by the Romans as decoration in the private villas of the wealthy elite. The sculptural form, especially in marble, was an artistic challenge for the ancient artist. Quite typical of the period, the challenge posed was not only the study of the female body, but the complexity of the weightlessness and balance of the form. The goddess stands precariously in a position of imbalance while concentrating on her strictly private task. The stance accentuates her perfected godly sensuality as well as her humanness, participating in an action so mundane it is replicated by all women every day while undressing. As here, the sandal is often not present on sculptures of the type, perhaps it was painted on, or perhaps it was simply understood by the viewer to be present.