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Lot Essay
The famous Venus de' Medici, attracted extraordinary attention since it was acquired by the Medici family in the late 16th century, and has been considered as one of the half-dozen finest antique statues to have survived. The praise heaped upon her by writers and poets in the 18th century and the adulation of visitors verged on hysteria, and numerous copies and casts of the sculpture were made. Several statues of the same type were known in the 18th century, all ultimately inspired by the famous Aphrodite of Knidos created by the 4th century B.C. Greek sculptor Praxiteles, as the absolute ideal of feminine beauty both in bodily form and pose