Phyrne, an Athenean courtesan said to have been the mistress of Praxiteles, was accused of impiety. The judges at her trial, however, refused to condemn her when her counsel made her remove her garments and reveal her beauty.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Peter Fusco and H.W. Janson, The Romantics to Rodin, exhibition catalogue, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980. A comparison can be made to a figure of Phyrne by Pradier, illustrated fig.181, p.p.319-320.