ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Aphrodite

CultureGreek or Roman

Date1st Century BCE-1st Century CE

MediumMarble (Paros 2, Aphrodisias)

Credit LineCarlos Collection of Ancient Art

Dimensions11 7/16 x 10 in. (29.1 x 25.4 cm)

Object number1992.022

Label TextAphrodite was the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. Formal, clothed images of her from the Archaic and Early Classical periods were gradually replaced with more sensual versions, sometimes nude or partly so, which explore female sexuality more explicitly.

Here, Aphrodite's softly-rendered features are framed by loosely-waving hair bound up in a chignon. Her diadem (stephane) may have been faced in sheet gold and attached by use of the holes at either side.

This sculpture comes from a statue of Aphrodite, goddess of love in all its forms. To the Greeks, this was sometimes seen in terms of human passion (Aphrodite Pandemos) and something more profound, even divine (Aphrodite Ourania).

Her centrally parted hair, done up behind in a chignon and set with a diadem, together with the tilt of the head, suggest that this is a copy of the so-called Aphrodite of Capua. The original was one of the most influential fourth century types; its descendents include the famous Venus de Milo in the Louvre. In Roman times, the type would later be modified to become a Victoria.

The Aphrodite of Capua showed the goddess partly nude. Early representations of Aphrodite show her elaborately dressed, a tradition that continues throughout antiquity. The diadem has drilled holes at the sides, probably to attach a gold foil facing.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11,1993 - May 2004
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - August 26, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, September 25, 2013 - May 20, 2016
Roman Myth and Myth-Making, Jundt Art Museum, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, September 17 - December 17, 2016
Published ReferencesMichael C. Carlos Museum Handbook (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 1996), 66.

ProvenanceEx private collection, Northern Ireland. Purchased by MCCM from Brian T. Aitken (1952-2009) [Acanthus Gallery], New York, New York.

Status

Not on view

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