Mar 18, 2009
Mar 18, 2009
Mar 18, 2009
Mar 18, 2009

Head of Aphrodite

Head of Aphrodite

AD 100–200

Marble

Overall: 30.3 cm (11 15/16 in.)

Gift of J. H. Wade 1926.53

Location

Did you know?

The elaborate hairstyle, arranged in a bow atop the head, identifies this figure as Aphrodite.

Description

With idealized features including a straight nose, small mouth with thick lips, and a hairstyle best known from the so-called Capitoline Venus (now in Rome), this head likely belonged to a full-scale statue of the goddess of love. Like the Capitoline Venus and many other sculptures of the Roman period, it probably showed the goddess nude and bathing, harking back to the groundbreaking sculpture of Aphrodite at Knidos, carved by Praxiteles in the mid-fourth century BC.

See also
Collection: 
GR - Roman
Department: 
Greek and Roman Art
Type of artwork: 
Sculpture
Medium: 
Marble
Credit line: 
Gift of J. H. Wade

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