This delicate and sensuous torso of the nude Aphrodite encapsulates all that the goddess represents; beauty, sensuality and modesty. Standing in contrapposto, her weight rests on her right leg and her left is bent forwards. Her thighs are pressed firmly together and she has pert breasts, a marked waist and a pronounced belly button. Her left hand, now missing, would have been holding gathered drapery, and lightly resting on a hydria or loutrophoros. Her right hand, also missing, covers her pubic area to preserve her modesty.
Thus, this statue demonstrates the perfect idealised feminine form; capturing the exquisiteness and harmony of the female body, as the goddess of love is caught in the act of preparing for a ritual bath to restore her purity.
Note
The statue’s form is based on the depiction of the goddess by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles, created around 360 BC. It is thought that Praxiteles used the courtesan Phryné, rumoured to be his lover, as the model for the original sculpture. According to Pliny the Elder, in his Natural Histories, Praxiteles created two versions of the statue, one draped and one nude. When first revealed, the later statue was considered shocking as it was the first time the goddess, or indeed any female, had been represented entirely naked. It was swiftly rejected by the citizens of Kos, who had commissioned it for their sanctuary and instead, they purchased the draped statue. Subsequently, the naked piece by Praxiteles was acquired by the city of Knidos in Asia Minor and thus acquired its name, the Aphrodite of Knidos. The Praxiteles piece became the blueprint for generations of Greek and Roman artists depicting the female form, and this depiction reflects the delicacy of Praxiteles’s original.
As with the original Aphrodite of Knidos, this stunning piece is intended to be viewed and admired from all angles, in order revel in its grace and sensual beauty. In antiquity, it would have been positioned to allow viewers to appreciate the line and form of the statue, while marvelling at the sculptor’s skill and vision
