Lot Essay
This depiction of Venus in the act of wrapping her breasts in a strophium is extremely rare for a sculpture in the round. Bikini and strophium clad exersizing girls are well-known from the mosaics of Piazza Armerina, Sicily. The breast band is also commonly found on Roman erotic scenes, from wall-paintings to Arretine-ware vessels to oil lamps. For a terracotta oil lamp showing two Cupids helping Venus tie her strophium, see fig. 13.27 in Sebesta and Bonfante, eds., The World of Roman Costume. For the Piazza Armerina mosaics see fig. 13.26 in the same publication. For an Arretine fragment see fig. 24 and for a wall-painting see pl. 8 in Clarke, Looking at Lovemaking.