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Aphrodite or Venus Genitrix Statue musée du Louvre, life-size
STR-26.19
Last items in stock
€6,289.00
VAT included
Aphrodite known as Venus Genetrix is one of the masterpieces of the antique sculpture department of the Louvre Museum. The original sculpture in the form of a ronde-bosse made of Parian marble is itself a Roman copy of a bronze by Callimachus (an Athenian sculptor of the late 5th century AD).
In 46 BC, Julius Caesar commissioned a replica of it from the sculptor Arcesias to be placed in Rome in the temple of the Venus Genitrix (from the Latin genitrix, the mother), a goddess whose descendant he wanted to assert himself.
In the 18th century, E. Q. Visconti gave this name to this type of statuary, by comparison with coins bearing the effigy of the Empress Sabina (who died in 137 AD).
The neck, the left hand, the fingers of the right hand, the plinth, as well as numerous fragments of the drapery are modern restorations.
The statue was restored in 1999 thanks to the patronage of F. Marc de Lacharrière (Fimalac).
The goddess seems to come out of her bath, with one hand she brings back her garment, with the other she holds the apple of Paris. The wet drape highlights her body much more than it hides it.
The tilt of the head makes the goddess more human so she seems to lean benevolently towards the faithful. The end of the 5th century B.C. was a period of doubt for the Athenians because of the plague epidemics and the Peloponnesian War which set the Greek cities against each other.
Dimensions
Height: 70.07 ".
Width: 20.47 ".
Depth: 20.47 ".
Weight: 100 kg (220.4 lbs)
Material: reconstituted marble (marble dust + high density resin).
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A real crisis of conscience in Athenian society. However, a new sensibility appeared for women: in literature, with the heroines of Euripides or the comic feminism of Aristophanes; in the plastic arts, with the flowery style of ceramics or the sensuality of the statues of Aphrodite being revealed.
The Hellenes need gods that resemble them. It is the first time that we see the breast of a goddess, female nudity was reserved for the courtesan of the banqueting vases.
But once again the face is timeless, impassive and only the hair and the addition of jewels (the earlobes are pierced) make it feminine.
Callimachus was inspired by the works of Polyclitus: the bent leg is back and rests on the tiptoe, this attitude creates movement and a new three-dimensionality. Moreover this displacement is reflected in the rest of the body: the line of the hips and the line of the shoulders are inverted.
This sculpture was part of the royal collections and was exhibited for a long time in the gardens of the Tuileries and then Versailles. In 1803, it was seized and integrated into the collections of the Louvre.
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