Venustorso Lot n° 456

Height: 24.5 cm. Width: 13 cm. Depth: 9 cm. 1st/2nd century AD. Fine crystalline marble. Roman marble torso of a naked Venus, the design of which goes back to the Greek model of "Aphrodite of Milos". Like so many of the marble works created in the Roman sphere of influence, this figure is also based on a large Greek sculpture. Probably between 350 and 340 BC, the most famous Greek sculptor of the time, Praxiteles, created a marble statue for the temple of Knidos, thus the first female nude figure of a goddess ever. Thus the type of the "Venus pudica" was founded. In contrast to the clothed Aphrodite (= Roman: Venus) as she stood in the temple of Kos, the statue soon became famous for the beauty of the female body in the Old World and up to Roman times. The pride of the city of Knidos in this temple figure is also shown by the fact that this figure is found on a Knidian coinage. It is assumed that the famous hetaera Phryge was the model for the sculptor. The present marble sculpture is missing head, arms and parts of the thighs. Thus the original figure can only be reconstructed from the preserved large sculptures, which show us that the left hand held the bath towel and the right hand was placed in front of the pubic region. However, the leg posture with the right standing leg and the left playing leg can still be recognized very well. Also the back view shows the fine elaboration of the marble sculpture. Examples of other Roman copies after the Greek original by Praxiteles can be found in the British Museum London (height 73.7 cm, Inv.No. 1821,0101, 1.) or in the Louvre, Paris (height 122 cm, Inv.No. MA 2184), but also in the Prado Museum Madrid (height 56 cm., Inv.No. E000918). The specimen in the Pio Clementino Museum of the Vatican has given the figure the nickname "Belvedere Venus". Provenance: French private collection of the 1950s. (12901438) (11) Venus torso Height: 24.5 cm. Width: 13 cm. Depth: 9 cm. 1st/ 2nd century AD. Roman marble torso of a naked Venus whose design is inspired by the Greek "Aphrodite of Milos". Provenance: French private collection of the 1950s.