Aphrodite, Goddess of Feminine Beauty

Beautiful Aphrodite

Syracuse Museum, Sicily - Italy

Aphrodite from Cyprus

Venus de Milo

c. 100 B.C.
Marble
H 202 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris - France

In spite of lacking attributes, the size and the attitude of this statue allow its identification as a goddess: Aphrodite, often represented half nude, or Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, venerated on the island of Melos. The style is characteristic of the late Hellenistic period, which revives classical themes while innovating. Thus the slipping drapery on the hips entails a closed stance and introduces an instancy to the figure. It hides the joint between the two blocks of marble that were sculpted separately, as were the left arm and leg, according to an utterly new technique.

Aphrodite Pan and Eros

Found in Delos
National Archaelogical Museum, Athens - Greece

Aphrodite in Praxitelis' Style

Berlin Museum, Berlin - Germany

Venus coming out from her Bath

Villa Ludovisi, Rome - Italy

Venus in her Bath

Roman copy, after an original of the 3rd century B.C. copper creation
Pio Clementino Museum, Vatican - Italy

Crouching Aphrodite

Roman copy, after an original of the 3rd century B.C.
Marble
H 96 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris - France

Following the Aphrodites at the Bath, invented in the 4th century BC, the artists of the Hellenistic period took pleasure in studying the nude female figure in all different attitudes. The motif, associated as here with an Eros, of which there only remains a small hand on the back, met with great success among Roman copyists for the ornamentation of gardens and public baths. The composition, which integrates the highly sensual body to a pyramidal form, effectively lends itself well to decorative effects.

Venus of Cyrene

Rome - Italy

Aphrodite by Praxitelis

Roman copy after "Knidia Aphrodite" by Praxitelis
Marble
Vatican Museum, Rome - Italy

Aphrodite Bathing in a Spring

Detail from a likithos of Midias' workshop

Aphrodite

Late 2nd century B.C.
Clay

Crowned Venus

Marble
Naples - Italy

Aphrodite by Praxitelis

The head of "Knidia Aphrodite" by Praxitelis