A ROMAN BRONZE VENUS
A ROMAN BRONZE VENUS
A ROMAN BRONZE VENUS
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PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
A ROMAN BRONZE VENUS

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details
A ROMAN BRONZE VENUS
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
10 ¾ in. (27.3 cm.) high
Provenance
Said to be from Tartus.
Louis de Clercq (1836-1901), Paris, acquired in 1868; thence by descent.
with Ariadne Galleries, New York and London.
Acquired by the current owner from the above, 2015.
Literature
A. de Ridder, Collection de Clercq: Catalogue, vol. 3: Les bronzes, Paris, 1905, pp. 70-71, pl. XVII, no. 94.
S. Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, vol. 4, Paris, 1910, p. 213, no. 3.
M.-O. Jentel, "Aphrodite (In Peripheria Orientali)," Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, vol. 2, pt. 1, Zurich, 1984, p. 160, no. 143.
P. Pingitzer, “Aphrodite mit Handgirlande. Bronzestatuetten mit oft verkanntem Attribut,” in K. Koller, et al., eds., Stein auf Stein: Festschrift für Hilke Thür zum 80. Geburtstag, Graz, 2021, p. 195, no. 18.

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Hannah Fox Solomon
Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

Lot Essay

Small-scale bronzes of Venus were placed in lararia (household shrines) across the Roman empire for private devotional use within the domestic sphere. They also functioned as votive gifts to the goddess dedicated in her sanctuaries (see p. 206 in C. Kondoleon and P.C. Segal, eds., Aphrodite and the Gods of Love). In this example, Venus is depicted nude, wearing a foliate crown and holding a folded garland in her right hand (for a discussion of the attribute, see Pingitzer, op. cit.). For another bronze Venus with the same pose and attributes, see the group statue in the Getty Villa with the goddess chastising Eros, fig. 3 in Pingitzer, op. cit.

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