2012.1.127: Statuette of Aphrodite

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2012.1.127

Title

Statuette of Aphrodite

Classification

Sculpture

Work Type

sculpture, statuette

Date

1st-3rd century CE

Places

Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World

Period

Roman Imperial period

Culture

Roman

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/191799

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Bone

Technique

Carved

Dimensions

10.7 cm (4 3/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Estate of Michel Abemayor (1912-1975), New York, sold; through [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Sale 3934 (December 11, 1976) Lot 95]; to [Robert J. Myers, New York, 1976-1977], sold; to The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (1977-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University

Accession Year

2012

Object Number

2012.1.127

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

Bone statuette of a draped woman, probably the goddess Venus (Aphrodite). She stands with her weight on her right leg, and her left leg slightly forward. Her hair is pulled back, and she wears a diadem. Details of the face are rendered naturalistically. She wears a gauzy garment (chiton), loose around the bust, leaving her left breast exposed. The garment is form-fittingly tight around her pelvis so that her navel is visible through the fabric. She has a mantle, wrapped loosely around her right leg, over her left shoulder, which she draws up further with her right arm.

Some minor chipping, particularly at the bottom and around the right hand, which is missing.

Commentary

This bone statuette likely represents Venus who was the Roman correlative of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Statuettes of Venus are common in Roman domestic cult where she is often depicted nude and at her toilet in compositions derived from earlier Greek versions. In her Roman guise, the goddess also held political connotations as the mother of the Roman state and sometimes appears in a more regal composition, clothed and with accoutrements such as a diadem and scepter (1).

Notes:
1. See a statuette of Venus in the J. Paul Getty Museum, acc. 76.AM.4

Exhibition History

• Roman Gallery Installation (long-term), Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/16/1999 - 01/20/2008

Subjects and Contexts

• Roman Domestic Art

Verification Level