Carli Hoebert

Marble Statue of Aphrodite- the so-called Venus Genetrix

While visiting the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, the piece of artwork that caught my eye was the Marble Statue of Aphrodite- the so-called Venus Genetrix. This particular statue interested me because in high school, I was assigned the role of Aphrodite in a skit. Ever since then, her mythological story interested me. Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. The sculpture that I picked seemed unique to me and different from the sculpture of her in the Art Through The Ages textbook. This piece was created in the Imperial time period, between the 1st and 2nd century A.D., and is from the Roman Culture. This piece classifies as a stone sculpture. Aphrodite is a Greek Goddess, which means the goddess of love. With that being said, the original sculpture was Greek and made of bronze. The museum states that Kallimachos created this particular sculpture. He lived in the second half of the first century B.C.E in Corinth. After examining the sculpture, it is portrayed as if Aphrodite is walking. It seems as though her body is leaning more on the weight of her left leg. A term that describes this is Contrapposto. This term is used in the visual arts that describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that the shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This leaves the statue of Aphrodite looking very naturalistic. This sculpture is classified under the Late Classical period. Greek artists at this time were fascinated with the movement and the nature of human bodies, which is what this statue portrays. Due to the fact that most of this sculpture was destroyed, the museum approximated a sketch on how the original might have looked. It was predicted that Aphrodite lifted her right hand to hold a free end of her cloak. She kept the other hand raised to the front near her breast, as in an offering gesture. The museum also implies that she could be holding an apple in her left hand. Due to the apple in her hand, the sculpture could be an allusion to the Trojan War myth where Aphrodite gave this fruit to the Trojan prince, Paris, as an award. Envisioning what the original piece exactly looked like was a little difficult for me because the head and arms were missing from the statue. Also, this sculpture could have a representation of being religious because it is very possible that this statue was located in some sort of temple. Aphrodite is wearing a chiton, which is defined as a Greek tunic, the essential garment of both men and women. Her robe was made from two rectangular pieces of fabric that was pinned, sewn, or buttoned at a shoulder. The clothing on this sculpture is very detailed, showing every wrinkle and fold of her garment. This garment shows the curves of Aphrodite’s body, making her look more naturalistic. The robe however, is not covering her full body. Kallimachos left her not fully dressed on the left side of her body, revealing her left breast. I feel this signifies Aphrodite’s goddess of love very well. In class lectures we have talked about many pieces of artwork. One that stood out to me and had similar characteristics of the Marble Statue of Aphrodite- the so-called Venus Genetrix is Kritios Boy from the Acropolis, Athens. This is the first sculpture that really portrayed how a human being truly stands. Humans do not stand in a stiff leg pose, however they shift their weight to one side of their leg. As mentioned earlier this is called contrapposto. Contrapposto was a very important sculptural development because it was the first time in Western art that that the human body was used to show a psychological nature. Kritios Boy suggests a very composed and relaxed state of mind. After Kiritios Boy, Greek sculptors explored how the human body could portray the entire range of human experiment from movement, to facial expressions, to realistic clothing. The statue of Aphrodite expressed this concept as well. It makes the statue look more naturalistic. The sculptors seem to focus a lot on the anatomy of the body. The patterns of still muscles were developed into a world of tension and relaxation, similar to a real human being. The ancient Greek sculptors achieved balance through the opposing action of the human muscle groups. The weight shift separates classical from Archaic Greek statuary. Both pieces are from the classical time period. As well as this, both sculptures are made of marble. A difference between Kritios Boy and Aphrodite is that Aphrodite had a robe on and Krititos is completely unclothed. The clothing on the Marble Statue of Aphrodite- the so-called Venus Genetrix, conveyed the natural movement of the body is a better light because their was all folds almost as if she was moving. Also, it accentuated her curves as well. In the Greece time period, where both pieces of art are from, body expressing movement and the natural body was a big goal of theirs.