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Lot Essay
The nude goddess is depicted here standing in contrapposto. Her back is slightly arched forward and her left hand covers her pudenda. Though no longer surviving, it is probable that her right arm would have been held below her breasts. From this pose, we can identify the goddess as of the Capitoline Aphrodite type (named after the larger-than-life example now in the Musei Capitolini, Rome, inv. no. MC0409) which depicts the goddess emerging from her bath, a loutrophoros with her garments draped on beside her.
The Capitoline Aphrodite was likely inspired by the canonical Aphrodite of Knidos, made by the Greek master Praxiteles circa 350 B.C. and displayed in a shrine to the goddess on the island of Knidos. According to later Roman authors, the statue was originally commissioned by the citizens of Kos. Praxiteles sculpted two versions for them, one draped, the other nude. The prudish citizens of Kos rejected the nude version, which was then acquired by the citizens of Knidos, who erected the statue in an open-air temple, affording a splendid view of Praxiteles' masterpiece from all angles. It is thought that this was the first full-scale, freestanding sculpture of the female nude in all of Greek art. Although the original does not survive, enough is known about the Knidia (as she is called today) from the numerous copies and variations made during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. These range from full-scale replicas in marble for temples and villas, to small bronze and terracotta statuary for household shrines, to depictions on engraved gems for personal adornment.
For some time it was thought that the gesture of covering her breasts and pubic region was a sign of the goddess' modesty. This is now recognized as a Victorian conceit, since there is no mythological basis to support such a view, and the pose is alternatively argued to depict the goddess emphasizing her fertility rather than hiding it (see B. Ridgway, Fourth-Century Styles in Greek Sculpture, p. 263). For another statue of the Capitoline Aphrodite type, see the Hamilton Aphrodite currently on loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Inv. no. L.2023.5).
The Capitoline Aphrodite was likely inspired by the canonical Aphrodite of Knidos, made by the Greek master Praxiteles circa 350 B.C. and displayed in a shrine to the goddess on the island of Knidos. According to later Roman authors, the statue was originally commissioned by the citizens of Kos. Praxiteles sculpted two versions for them, one draped, the other nude. The prudish citizens of Kos rejected the nude version, which was then acquired by the citizens of Knidos, who erected the statue in an open-air temple, affording a splendid view of Praxiteles' masterpiece from all angles. It is thought that this was the first full-scale, freestanding sculpture of the female nude in all of Greek art. Although the original does not survive, enough is known about the Knidia (as she is called today) from the numerous copies and variations made during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. These range from full-scale replicas in marble for temples and villas, to small bronze and terracotta statuary for household shrines, to depictions on engraved gems for personal adornment.
For some time it was thought that the gesture of covering her breasts and pubic region was a sign of the goddess' modesty. This is now recognized as a Victorian conceit, since there is no mythological basis to support such a view, and the pose is alternatively argued to depict the goddess emphasizing her fertility rather than hiding it (see B. Ridgway, Fourth-Century Styles in Greek Sculpture, p. 263). For another statue of the Capitoline Aphrodite type, see the Hamilton Aphrodite currently on loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Inv. no. L.2023.5).