A ROMAN MARBLE HEAD OF VENUS

CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE HEAD OF VENUS
CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
Over-lifesized, on a long slender neck, her head turned to her left, with a pronounced chin and full slightly-parted lips, her small almond-shaped eyes with thick upper and lower lids, drilled at their inner canthi, the delicately-modelled brows arching gracefully and merging with the bridge of her nose, her forehead peaked at the center, her luscious wavy hair center parted, the individual strands delineated, with thick wavy tendrils along her crown, covering the top of her ears, loosely bound in a band and tied in a chignon at the nape of her neck
13¼ in. (33.7 cm.) high

Provenance

Private Collection, Paris, 1960s.

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Lot Essay

The position of the goddess' head, the downward gaze and fashion of the hairstyle, find close similarity to the Capitoline Venus, which is based on the 4th century B.C. prototype by Praxiteles. As the Goddess of Love and Sexuality, Aphrodite was always portrayed as the essence of beauty. Her aesthetic perfection is reflected here in the goddess' idealized face, graceful neck and sensuously tactile hair. The present example can be compared to two heads of Aphrodite that were originally set into draped statues: the head of Aphrodite in the Glyptothek in Munich, dated to 300-290 B.C. (p.85 in Wünsche, Glyptothek München: Meisterwerke Griechischer und Römischer Skulptur); and the Leconfield Aphrodite, dated to the 4th century B.C. (pl. 500 and pp. 178-179 in Stewart, op. cit.).p. 178-179 in Stewart, op. cit.).

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