Artwork Page for Aphrodite Torso

Details / Information for Aphrodite Torso

Aphrodite Torso

c. 200–1 BCE

Medium
Thasian marble
Measurements
Overall: 66.3 x 36.2 cm (26 1/8 x 14 1/4 in.)
Weight: 70.3 kg
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1988.9
Public Domain
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Location
102C Greek
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Did You Know?

This torso is based on the Aphrodite of Knidos, a Greek original by the master sculptor Praxiteles.

Description

This torso can be identified through its nudity and pose as the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. Based on the now-lost Aphrodite of Knidos, a revolutionary marble sculpture created by Praxiteles of Athens in the mid-300s BCE, this sculpture belongs to a popular Greek and Roman type showing the goddess at her bath. With hips slightly shifted, she stood in a relaxed posture with most of her weight on one leg, probably with one hand modestly covering her pubic region and the other shielding her breasts or holding drapery. Alternatively, one or both hands may have tended to her wet hair, some of which falls over her neck and upper back.
A marble sculpture depicts the nude torso of Aphrodite with her head, arms, and legs broken away. Facing forward, her weight shifts slightly onto her right leg. Jagged breaks mark the neck and shoulders. Her form features rounded breasts and a soft abdomen with a shallow indentation for the navel. The off-white stone displays brownish stains and fine pitting, terminating at the upper thighs in an irregular edge atop a gray base.

Aphrodite Torso

c. 200–1 BCE

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