| Description | This is a bronze reduced copy after the antique marble Venus de Medici sculpture in the Uffizi. This was one of the few surviving antique marbles in Florence and a prime attraction for Grand Tourists of the 18th century. This copy was very likely made for that market as it is a good but undistinguished copy. It became one of the most celebrated examples of antique sculpture, revered as the most beautiful of Venuses and described by the 17th century diarist John Evelyn as a 'miracle of art'. Its reputation began to decline during the 19th century, but copies continued to be mass-produced. The Medici Venus is a life-size Hellenistic marble sculpture depicting the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite. The goddess is depicted in a fugitive, momentary pose, as if surprised in the act of emerging from the sea, to which the dolphin at her feet alludes. The goddess was said to have sprung from the dark-blue depths of the sea and was nurtured by the foam from the frothing waves. Classical mythological figure of Venus, in her 'pudica' pose, Modest Venus, as it appears she is trying to cover her breasts and genitals with her hands. This nude goddess is an early depiction of female beauty, a subject which has a very long and strong tradtition in art. Elements of the female nude are bound to include something about the social and erotic character of the person represented; when the cult of worship for the goddess is abandoned, women will be represented more as they are seen by sculptors and their audiences than by how the goddess was worshiped. The focus of attention of the artist and public is on her poses and anatomy, and how the different parts and gestures of the piece interact. The viewer will search for the naturalistic and realistic as well as the geometrical shapes that together formed the classical ideal nude, an idea that survived trends and keeps reoccuring in art. |
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