HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.

This torso is a fine example of the so-called "wet drapery" style, first used in the late 5th century B.C. and continued through Classical and Hellenistic sculptural styles to the Roman period. Wet drapery exhibits a remarkable tension in that it manages to depict a garment, designed to cover the nude form but rather reveals more than it conceals. In it, the weighty stone appears effortlessly transformed into gossamer fabric. The result is masterful and unquestionably erotic.

Without attributes preserved, it is difficult to definitively pin down who this beautiful goddess represents. While many goddesses and divine beings are depicted with wet drapery in this period, perhaps the closest parallels can be found in statues of the nymph Aura, a personification of the breeze, often shown with her garments fluttering around her (see inv. no. 418 at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Aquileia). Other divine attributes possibly include Aphrodite (see no. 204, in A. Delivorrias, et al., "Aphrodite," LIMC, vol. II), Iris, Hebe, or Nike, as witnessed in the famous example from Samothrace now at the Louvre (inv. no. MA 2369).