| Venus of Arles | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Year | 1st century BCE (Julian) |
| Dimensions | 1.94 m (6.4 ft) × 102 cm (40 in) × 65 cm (26 in) |
| Location | Salle 344 - Classical and Hellenistic Greek art |
TheVenus of Arles is a 1.94-metre-high (6.4 ft) sculpture ofVenus at theMusée du Louvre.[1] It is inHymettus marble and dates to the end of the 1st century BC.
It may be a copy of theAphrodite of Thespiae byPraxiteles, ordered by the courtesanPhryne.[2] In the 2nd century AD,Pausanias mentioned the existence atThespiae inBoeotia (centralGreece) of a group made up ofCupid,Phryne andAphrodite.[3] The Praxitelean style may be detected in the head's resemblance to that of theCnidian Aphrodite, a work of Praxiteles known through copies. In a tentative attempt to reconstruct his career, the original Aphrodite of Thespiae would be a work from his youth in the 360s BC, and this partially draped female (frequently repeated in the Hellenistic era, such as theVenus de Milo) is a prelude to his fully naked c. 350 BCCnidian Aphrodite.[4]
TheVenus of Arles was discovered in several pieces at theRoman Theatre of Arles. The sculptural program at Arles was executed in Italy, perhaps by Greek artisans.Venus was the divine ancestor of thegens Julia; Arles, which had backed Caesar when Massilia backedPompey was rewarded in numerous ways. A semi-nude heroic statue ofAugustus was the dominating figure in the sculptural program of the Arles theatre.[5]
TheVenus was found in 1651, by workmen who were digging a well. The head appeared first, at a depth of six feet, which spurred further excavations. Later, after it had been given in 1681 toLouis XIV to decorate theGalerie des Glaces ofVersailles, further excavations were made in the area of the theatre'sscenae frons, but no further fragments were found. The statue was seized from the royal collection at the Revolution and has been at theMusée du Louvre[6] ever since its inception. A copy is on display in theHôtel de Ville in Arles.[7]
When restoring the sculpture, the royal sculptorFrançois Girardon added the apple in the right hand – as won in theJudgement of Paris – and the mirror in the left, to make the sculpture more closely resemble a Venus. The discovery in 1911 of a cast made of the sculpture as it had first been restored only sufficiently to reassemble, before Girardon was commissioned to improve it, demonstrated the extent of Girardon's transformative restorations, which included refinishing the surfaces, slimming the figure in the process. That the result is as much Girardon as Greco-Roman keeps the sculpture in the storerooms of the Louvre.[8] The head, though its broken edges do not directly join with the torso except for one point of contact, belongs with the body – an important point, since it is the only sculpture of this particular model that retains its head, and the head is Praxitelean, comparable to hisAphrodite of Cnidus.[9] The bracelet on her left arm, however, is original, an identifying trait of the goddess as seen on theCnidian Aphrodite.
