Also called the Venus Genetrix. Roman copy from a Greek bronze original.
The face has the grace and austerity of the style of Pheidias, the pose has the contrapposto stance of Polykleitos; at odds with these High Classical influences is the sensuous and revealing treatment of the drapery.
Although it is a restoration, the apple in Aphrodite’s left hand is the prize from Paris after he had judged her the most beautiful woman
Paris, Louvre 525
Purchased in 1884 from Brucciani of London
Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 168 (n.1)
Brunn-Bruckmann: Denkmäler Griechischer und Römischer Skulptur, 473
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 112, no.584-5
Reporter: 19 June 1885, 894, nos.512 & 513
Probably found in 1650 in the Roman town of Fréjus (Forum Julii) on the south coast of France
