19th Imposing Neoclassical Marble Sculpture Venus Genitrix

An imposing neoclassical marble sculpture, model known as the Louvre-Naples Aphrodite or Venus Genitrix, Italian workshop, 19th century.

The goddess is depicted standing, bathing, untying her tunic, one hem raised behind her shoulder. Her body is wrapped in a light, sleeveless chiton, punctuated by subtle pleats, so transparent as to simulate a wet look. The tunic, sliding down her left arm, reveals her breasts and shoulder. In her left hand, she holds a jar of perfumed ointment. The sculpture is a replica of the famous statuary type of the “Louvre-Naples Aphrodite,” a Greek statue attributed to the sculptor Callimachus and dated to the late 5th century BC, now housed in the Louvre. The image was highly successful and was reproduced in copies of various sizes for residential, funerary, and public spaces starting in the Hellenistic and especially Imperial periods. The widespread diffusion throughout the empire’s cities in the early Imperial period can undoubtedly be traced back to the widespread interest in Venus as the mother of Aeneas and progenitor of the gens Julia. Some Roman-era replicas are now preserved in Roman museums.

Our sculpture was made by a Roman workshop in the 19th century in white Carrara marble. Within the 19th-century neoclassical repertoire, the figure of Venus Genitrix is ​​not very common. It is certainly a commissioned sculpture. Sculpted with great refinement, it is striking for its imposing size.
In excellent condition, it has never undergone restoration.

Measurements
H 88 cm
W 46 cm
D 26 cm
Base 25 x 23.5 cm