CIRCA LATE 2ND-EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.

This small marble Venus recalls a large group of related depictions of the goddess associated with the city of Emesa in Roman Syria (see A.J.M. Kropp, “The Aphrodite of Emesa: miniature marble sculpture and religious life in Roman Syria,” Journal of Roman Archeology, vol. 29, pp. 193-222). All are sculpted in marble but for a few in alabaster or ivory and are small in scale. They are relatively flat, although sculpted fully in the round, and depict the goddess wearing a tunic and mantle. Most of the Emesa type Venus figures have a seated Eros on the left shoulder and hold a thick garland in their raised right hand. The figure presented here differs in that the Eros (only partially preserved) is seated on the right shoulder; her right arm is lowered, with her hand holding the folds of her mantle, while her left arm is bent acutely at the elbow, with the fingers pulling on the fabric of her tunic. Kropp (op. cit. p. 218) concludes that the type must be based on a cult statue from Emesa; this figure must reflect a cult statue from a different but neighboring city, given the close affinities.