A Roman marble statue of Aphrodite
Lot 93
A Roman marble life-size draped torso
Sold for £48,450 (US$ 81,051) inc. premium
Auction Details
Lot Details
A Roman marble life-size draped torso
1st-2nd Century A.D.
Of the "Venus Genetrix" type, her diaphanous chiton laid in a rounded bundle on the right shoulder and forming a v-shaped from the left shoulder, the drapery clinging to her naked body, falling in folds below, a thin low-slung belt secured across her hips, her right leg bent slightly forward, at the back her drapery falls from her right shoulder, 46in. (117cm.) high, 16in. (41cm.) diam. across the hips, right shoulder and left breast damaged, holes in the sockets and at the back for attachment

Footnotes

  • Provenance:
    Acquired with the purchase of the owner's previous house

    Literature:
    On the original of the often-copied "Venus Genetrix" type, the thin chiton has slipped down from the left shoulder, so that the left shoulder and breast are bare. The so-called Venus was considered to be Caesar's ancestress. Copies of this type can be found in the Louvre in Paris, the Museo Nazionale in Naples, the Villa Borghese in Rome, the Uffizi in Florence and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. There are also five in the Museum in Ostia. For later statues such as our example, there were alterations to this original composition which show the drapery laid in a rounded bundle on the right shoulder and wearing the 'Roman' belt. For a close parallel of a sculpture from Ostia, cf. Margaret Bieber, Ancient Copies - Contributions to the History of Greek and Roman Art (New York 1977), pl.27, fig.151

Saleroom notices

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