CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

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.