This Roman bronze of a leaning Aphrodite / Venus, wearing a chiton (tunic) and himation (mantle), reveals the allure of the body beneath, as befits the beauty of the goddess. Her right arm is raised, probably to hold a sceptre, and her left hand extended to proffer another object (perhaps a dove or sacrificial dish), neither of which has survived.
Her hair is parted in the middle, drawn back into a double bun and crowned with a coronet, in the distinctive style of Greek Aphrodite sculptures. Her himation appears to have fallen from her upper body, emphasising her hips and pelvic area.
Venus was Rome’s goddess of love and beauty and acquired Aphrodite’s mythology as her own. As the mother of Aeneas, she was claimed as an ancestor by Julius Caesar and his dynasty.
