Roman Gilt Bronze Aphrodite

An ancient Roman gilt bronze statuette of Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess is fully nude, standing with her weight on her left leg, her right bent at the knee, her right arm extended, perhaps holding a mirror, her head turned to her right, her wavy hair parted and pulled back in a chignon surmounted by a crescent diadem.

Ca. 1st - 2nd century AD.

Overall height: 11 1/4 in. (28.5 cm).

Aphrodite (Latin: Venus) was the Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty. She was also known as Cypris and Cytherea after the two places, Cyprus and Cythera, where she was said to have originated. Hephaestus was her husband, the child Eros her companion, and Ares one of her lovers. The dove, the sparrow, and the swan were the animals sacred to her. In Rome, Julius Caesar and his successors claimed family descent from the Venus and the hero Aeneas. She was venerated as the mother of the Roman people as Venus Genetrix in the Roman Forum. Her image was ultimately derived from the work of the Greek sculptor Callimachus, ca. 420 BC

Formerly in the collection of Dr. A. Vogl and P. Stickney, New York, acquired in the early 1950s; Christie's, New York, December 7, 2011, lot 189.

Inv#: 8151

Guaranteed Authentic

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