Roman Venus of the 1st-2nd century AD.

Roman Venus of the 1st-2nd century AD.
Luna marble (Carrara).
Provenance: - Acquired in 1981 in Paris, France. - Private collection of Mr. and Mrs. A., Paris, France. - By descendants of the previous owner.
It is in good condition, with no major restorations present.
Includes study report on the antiquity of the piece issued by Dr. John Pollini. Professor of Classical Art, Archaeology and History and Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (USA).
With Spanish and French export document.
With purchase invoice from 1981.
Measurements: 104 x 43 x 37 cm (Venus); 44,5 x 39 x 29,5 cm (base); 163 cm (total height with base).

This is an important life-size Greco-Roman effigy representing Venus (the Greek Aphrodite), made of fine-grained white marble extracted from the quarries of Luna (Carrara). Professor John Pollini, in the attached report, derives a series of attributes that relate our Venus (1st-2nd century AD) and her carefully turned torso and bust to an Aphrodite preserved in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and to the "Venus de Medici" in the Uffizi Gallery. On the one hand, he infers that the strut on the lower left leg indicates that it was once attached to the tail of a dolphin stand. It was a frequent motif in Greek and Hellenistic sculptures, since the dolphin symbolized the birth of Venus from the "foam" of the sea off the coast of Paphos, on the island of Cyprus (Hesiod's Theogony narrated her birth from the genitals of Uranus thrown by Cronus into the sea). Such a dolphin stand can be seen on a statue of Aphrodite of the same type as ours at the Metropolitan. On the other hand, the slight twist of the statue in bidding, which subtly leans forward while depositing much of its weight on its left leg, also brings it closer in its typology to an outstanding Hellenistic model of Aphrodite, whose best representation is preserved in the Uffizi: the Venus de Medici. In this one, the dolphin support also carries a putto as a rider. The absence of long locks of hair on the back or shoulders of our statue, a common feature of this particular type of statue of Aphrodite, indicates that her hair was tied up, as in the Aphrodites of the Uffizi and the Metropolitan Museum. Another reference, both for these two models and for our Venus, is the Venus of the Capitoline Museum in Rome. The Capitoline Aphrodite adopts a "modest gesture" or pose of modesty (covering her breasts and genitals because she is naked). This gesture of modesty would also have been copied both in our statue of Aphrodite and in the copies of the Uffizi and the Metropolitan Museum. However, while the Capitoline is depicted coming out of a bath, in the other three sculptures the goddess is depicted naked coming out of the sea.

This typology of Aphrodite, the style of carving and the quality of the Luna marble white with bluish or bluish-gray spots or veins, all very popular in the first two centuries A.D., suggest a similar time interval for the creation of our statue of Venus.