Aphrodite of Knidos – First Naked Female Greek Statue – Most Copied in the World

 

During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, statues of Aphrodite were everywhere; mostly modeled on Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos (around 364 BC), the first naked female Greek statue and the most widely copied in the world.

The Hellenistic Age ended with the Roman invasion of Greece, nonetheless, the Greeks kept on sculpting and the Romans went on to copy the style of Greek Hellenistic art.

All are variations on a theme; some have Aphrodite crouching, some, the so-called Aphrodite Kallipygos – “Aphrodite of the Beautiful Bottom”, have her presenting to us, her pretty posterior.

 

 

 However, the majority show Aphrodite in the original pose of Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos; preparing for her bath; removing her robe with one hand, while modestly shielding herself with the other.

 

 

Aphrodite:

Ancient Greek Goddess of Love, Lust, Beauty, Pleasure and Passion

 

Aphrodite (Roman goddess Venus), the ancient Greek goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure and passion, is said to have emerged from the sea-foam produced Cronus, king of the Titans king of the Titans, after chopping off his father’s (Uranus, personification of the sky) genitals, threw them into the sea near Paphos, on the island of Cyprus.

Aphrodite was also worshipped goddess of the sea and of seafaring and particularly, in Sparta, as goddess of war.

 First and foremost though, she was looked upon as the goddess of love and fertility, who sometimes even performed marriages and was looked upon by harlots and courtesans as their savior.

 

 

Aphrodite –  Eros (Cupid) and the Erotes

 

Aphrodite, invariably depicted as a young, extremely desirable woman, is almost always shown in the company of her son, Eros (Cupid), the god of lust and desire, as well as her flock of winged gods, the Erotes, who identified with love and amorous goings on, who, depending on which side of bed they had tumbled out of that morning, could either help or hinder the true course of love.

 

Venus and Mars (Aphrodite and Ares)

 

 

Surely, it can be no coincidence, that Eros and the Erotes, were the offspring of Ares (Mars); Greek god of war and Aphrodite, goddess of love!

Although married to Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmiths, Aphrodite was famous for her torrid love affair with Ares (Mars).

 

Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos by the Greek sculptor, Praxiteles of Athens:

The First Naked Female Statue of Ancient Greece

 

 

Famous for its beauty, the Knidos Aphrodite is the first life-sized figure of a naked female in Greek history and one of the first sculptures intended to be viewed from all angles.

The naked female appeared nearly three centuries after their naked male counterparts; in Greek sculpture, known as the kouros; the female statues; known as kore, were clothed.

According to Pliny, Roman author and philosopher, (AD 23 – 24 – 79); the Greek sculptor, Praxiteles of Athens, the most famous of the Attica sculptors of the 4th century BC, was commissioned to create a statue for a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, by the people of the island of Kos.

In around 364 BC, Praxiteles carved two statues of Aphrodite; one clothed, the other naked.

It‘s said the naked Aphrodite, one of the most famous sculptures, created by Praxiteles, was modeled on Phryne, an Hetaira (Greek courtesan), one of his lovers and models, known for her extraordinary beauty.

 

Phryne’s downfall:

Paying the Price for Creating the Image of a Goddess in her own Likeness

 

 

As it turned out, Phryne, posing as the model for the statue of the goddess Aphrodite, was to be her downfall.

In ancient Greece, the gods demanded humility and respect from mortals and Phryne’s desire to be represented as a goddess angered the gods.

For the gods to be represented in human form was a sign of their divinity but for a mortal woman to create the image of a goddess in her own likeness however, was a crime.

It was not long before Phryne’s secret was out and all Athens learned she was the model for Praxiteles’ statue of Aphrodite; the goddess of love.

No mortal had ever had the audacity to do this.

Phryne ended up in the courts of ancient Athens accused of sacrilege.

 

Aphrodite Becomes Quite the Talk of the Town

 

Praxiteles’ Aphrodite became quite the talk of Athens, so much so in fact, that numerous quips and wisecracks made the rounds of the nightly symposiums!

One anecdote has Aphrodite being so intrigued about what all the fuss is about, she went to see the statue for herself.

After agreeing the likeness was, extraordinary, she added:

“Paris, Adonis and Anchises, have seen me naked, those are all I know of, so how did Praxiteles create it?”

 

The Perfect Pose

 

 

 Aphrodite is shown standing with most of her weight on one foot, resulting in her shoulders and arms twisting from her hips and legs; this is the “Contrapposto” position, (an Italian term that means counterpoise), used by artists to describe a human figure.

First appearing in Ancient Greece in the early 5th century BC, the contrapposto position is the first time in Western art that the human body is used to express a psychological disposition.

A perfect example of this is the modesty of Aphrodite of Knidos, shown as the goddess prepares to restore her purity (not virginity), by taking her ritual bath, discarding her drapery with one hand, while modestly shielding herself with the other.

 

 

This is the reason Aphrodite of Knidos, is also known as “Venus Pudica”; The Modest Venus; a classical stance where a naked female raises her right hand in an attempt to conceal her breasts while her left hand tries to hide her pubic area.

 

How the First Ancient Greek Naked Female Statue Found its Way to Knidos

 

 

Praxiteles sculpted two statues, one clothed and one not and presented both to the people of Kos, who had commissioned the statue and bid them to take their pick.

The prudish citizens of Kos, shocked to the core, instantly rejected the naked statue and took the clothed figure.

The rejected figure was bought by the citizens of Knidos, an ancient city in South – West Asia Minor and was installed in a temple dedicated to the goddess where it gained a widespread cult-like following for its beauty.

 The marble statue of Aphrodite; the “The Aphrodite of knidos”, which inspired how the female body is depicted in art ever since, sadly, has not survived.

It is thought to have been stolen and moved to the Palace of Lausus, Byzantium, by the Romans, which burned down in 474 BC, and was lost.

 

Temple of Aphrodite, Knidos

 

 

The naked statue of Aphrodite, rejected by the people of Kos, made its way to Knidos, an Hellenic city in southwestern Asia Minor, now on the Datça peninsula in modern-day Turkey.

 Here, it was placed in a temple, dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, under the name Aphrodite Euploia or ‘Aphrodite of the Fair Voyage’, which was her name as a sea goddess, making it particularly popular amongst sailors.

The sanctuary at Knidos was an idyllic retreat, consisting of an acropolis, odeum, theaters and marbled terraces scattered with sofas positioned amongst sweet-smelling flowers, in short, it was the ideal setting for amorous encounters.

In the centre of the sanctuary, taking pride of place, was a circular, Doric temple, surrounded with colonnades, now in ruins, which once housed “The Aphrodite of Knidos”.

The famous temple is said to have been the inspiration for Emperor Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli.

 

 

Unlike other ancient Greek temples, Knidos, had doors at the back as well as the front and rather than the statue being placed at the end of hall, it was in the middle of the circular temple, allowing the pilgrims to see the statue from all sides, especially from the back as Aphrodite of Knidos, was rumored to have a rather ravishing posterior!

 

 

Legends retold by Pliny, Lucian and others, tell us the statue of Aphrodite was meant to arouse lustful passion, when viewed by men.

The stories include one of a sailor, who was so enraptured by the statue; he hid himself in the temple until it was locked up for the night, in order to spend the night alone with the subject of his desire.

A temple priestess informed worshipers how the sailor was so ashamed when his secret became common knowledge, he threw himself over a cliff at the edge of the temple.

Another story tells of the sanctuary’s caretaker, whom, if you greased his palm, would unlock the back door, so the alluring goddess may be admired from the rear.

 

Turning Down a King’s Offer

 

Aphrodite of Knidos, despite being a cult image, became such a popular tourist attraction, Nicomedes I of Bithynia, an ancient region in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), offered to pay off the exorbitant debt the Knidians had accumulated, in exchange for the captivating Aphrodite.

Did the Knidians accept the king’s offer?

You can bet your life they didn’t!

Sadly, Knidos is now a ruin and deserted, except for tourists and mariners who come to pay homage to its heritage.

 

Aphrodite of Knidos :

The Most Widely Copied Statue in the World

 

 

Even though the Aphrodite of Knidos was lost hundreds of years ago, we have a good idea of how it must have looked, from descriptions written by Pliny, and by Lucian of Samosata, novelist, satirist and rhetorician, (c. 125 – after 180) and from replicas which have survived and from coins minted by the people of Knidos, in honour of Aphrodite.

 

 

The Kaufmann Head, found at Tralles (today Aydın, in Turkey’s Aegean Region), now in the Musée du Louvre, thought to be a faithful Roman reproduction of the head of the Knidian Aphrodite, also gives us more clues, as does Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli in Italy.

 

 

10 of the Most Famous True-to-form Surviving Replicas of the Knidos Aphrodite

 

Below, I’ve listed ten of the most well-known and truest replicas of the Knidian Aphrodite; only a few of her many replicas scattered across the world.

 

1. The Colonna Venus

 Vatican Museum – Rome

 

 

The Colonna Venus; the best-known and perhaps most true Roman copy of Praxiteles’ original Aphrodite of Knidos

The statue takes its name from Pope Pius VI by Filippo Giuseppe Colonna, who, in 1783, donated, along with three other marble Venuses, the one now known as the Colonna Venus, to the Vatican Museum.

It was declared, for the first time, as a copy of the Knidian Venus, in the catalogue of the Museo Pio-Clementino.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, a tin drape was wrapped around the legs of the statue, only when the statue was removed to the Gabinetto delle Maschere (Part of the Vatican Museum), in 1932, where it can be seen today, was the drape removed.

 

2. Venus de’ Medici

Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

 

 

The Medici Venus, a Hellenistic marble sculpture of the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite, is a 1st-century BC marble copy, which could have been made in Athens, in the style of the Aphrodite of Knidos.

On the base of the statue are engraved the words:

 ΚΛΕΟΜΕΝΗΣ ΑΠΟΛΛΟΔΩΡΟΥ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΟΣ ΕΠΩΕΣΕΝ

 “Kleomenes (son) of Apollodoros of Athens made it”

However, this inscription is not original, in the 18th century the name “Cleomenes” was often forged on sculptures of low quality as a trick to push up their value.

Although such sculptures are described as “Roman copies”, they were often produced, by Greek sculptors, when Greece was part of the Roman Empire.

The origin of the Medici Venus is unknown and hardly anything is known about it before the Renaissance.

The Statue was exiled from Rome, by Pope Innocent XI, who had it sent to Florence in 1677, as he thought the lewd statue would corrupt the citizens of Rome.

In Florence it was placed in the Uffizi, where it became a high point of the Grand Tour, revered as one of the few great antique statues to have survived.

The Medici Venus, along with other valuable works of art, was shipped to Palermo in 1800, in order to escape the Napolean’s French invasion, it was, however, seized and taken to Paris in 1803 under Napoleon’s orders.

After Napoleon’s fall, the Medici Venus, returned home to Florence in 1815.

The Medici Venus is housed in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

 

 3. Venus de Milo

 Louvre Paris

 

 

The Venus de Milo, maybe the most recognizable of all Greek statues, was created between 150 and 125 BC, most likely as a copy of the Aphrodite of Knidos.

 The statue was discovered in 1820, by a Greek peasant, inside a buried niche, in the ancient city of Milos, today the village of Tripiti, on the Aegean island of Milos, then under occupation of the Ottomans.

 After agreeing to sell the statue to the French, the peasant became impatient when payment was not forthcoming and sold it to  a translator fromIstanbul; a case of first come, first served.

 Just as the statue was being put aboard a ship heading for Istanbul, the French Ambassador’s assistant, arrived at the port in the nick of time, seized the statue, and managed to convince the head of the island, to annul the sale, which he did, whereupon the statue was presented to France as a gift.

At first, it was thought the Venus di Milo was made by the great Athenian sculptor, Praxiteles but on the discovery of an inscription on the plinth, it turns out, this amazing work was done by a strolling minstrel and artist, Alexandros of Antioch.

 The statue of Aphrodite (Venus), is now in the Louvre Museum, Paris.

 

4. The Crouching Venus (The Lely Venus)

British Museum.

 

 

 The Crouching Venus is a Hellenistic model of Venus taken unawares whist preparing for her bath.

Going by how many examples of “crouching Venuses” have been discovered; this position of hers was extremely popular indeed!

One of the best-known “crouching Venuses”, is the Lely Venus, named after the painter Sir Peter Lely (1618-80) who owned the statue in the 17th century.

 

 

It was part of the collection belonging to the Gonzaga dynasty of Mantua, Italy and whilst on art-collecting duties for Charles I of England, it was seen by the artist Rubens and was the inspiration for his painting “Allegory” in 1612–13.

 

 

The statue was bought from the Gonzaga, in 1628, for Charles I of England, however it eventually came into the possession of the painter and connoisseur Sir Peter Lely

After Lely’s death (1682) it was returned to the Royal Collection and since 1963 has been on view at the British Museum.

 

5. The Aphrodite Kallipygos or the Venus Callipyge:

 Venus (Aphrodite) of the Beautiful Bottom

Archeological Museum of Naples

 

 

The Venus Kallipygos; “Venus of the Beautiful Bottom”, is a Roman marble statue, dating to the late 1st century BC.

The statue was discovered, minus its head, in Rome sometime around the 16th century, the sculptor is unknown.

Soon after its discovery, the statue was restored; whoever did the reconstruction work, chose to have the figure look over her shoulder at her own bottom, giving the Venus its characteristic pose which led to many more interpretations of the work, such as  the Venus Callipyge by François Barois, 1683–86, on show at the Louvre Museum, Paris.

The above Venus Callipyge – Aphrodite of the beautiful bottom, is housed in the Archeological Museum of Naples.

 

6. Venus Felix – Venus of Good Fortune

 Vatican Museum

 

 

Venus Felix; The Venus of Good Fortune, is a sculpture of Venus and her son Cupid (Eros), dating back to the 2nd-century AD.

This Roman version of Venus is said to depict the face of either the 2^nd Roman Empress, Faustina, or the wife of Marcus Aurelius, or maybe even her daughter-in-law, Crispina, the choice is yours!

It is now on display at the Pius-Clementine museum of the Vatican Museums, Rome.

 

7. The Barberini Venus

Private Collection of the Royal Family of Quatar

 

 

The Barberini Venus, a copy of the Aphrodite of Knidus, is also known as the Jenkins Venus.

The sculpture, previously in the Barberini collection, where it was restored, was bought by Gavin Hamilton, a Scottish art-lover, in 1763.

It was later bought by Thomas Jenkins, an English antiques dealer and banker and again changed hands in 1765, when William Weddell of Newby Hall, Yorkshire, fell in love with it, whilst on the “Grand Tour”.

The Barbarini, or Jenkins Venus, remained at Newby Hall, until, in 2002 the Jenkins Venus was sold in London by Christie’s to fund repairs to the stables at Newby.

 The statue broke the world auction record for an antiquity, selling for £7,926,650, won by Sheikh Saud-al-Thani of Quatar.

 Up until the Sheikh’s death, in 2014, The Barbarini Venus was in his private collection.

A laser-made, Carrara marble copy now stands in place of the original Barbarini Venus, at Newby.

 

8. Borghese Venus

Louvre Paris

 

 

Borghese Venus, 2nd century CE Roman marble copy of the Aphrodite of knidus

The accompanying Cupid and dolphin, both classical symbols of Aphrodite, are an addition by the Roman sculptor.

Once part of the Borghese collection, it was seized by Napoleon and is now in the Louvre Museum.

The Borghese collection; art collected by the Borghese family of Rome, especially by Pope Paul V (original name Camillo Borghese) and his nephew, Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese, from the 17th century onwards, included major pieces by Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian, plus ancient Roman art.

By the end of the seventeenth century, the Borghese family owned one of the most famous collections of antiquities in Rome.

However, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, whose sister Pauline had married Prince Camillo Borghese, confiscated many of the Borghese treasures, during the Napoleonic wars, specifically, during his Italian Campaign.

In 1807 many pieces of art, particularly sculptures, were removed and transported to the Louvre Museum, where they remain to this day.

The Villa still houses a major part of the collection, as the Galleria Borghese.

 

9. Venus of Arles

Louvre Paris

 

 

The Venus of Arles (named after its place of discovery) is a 1st century BC, marble sculpture discovered in pieces, in 1651, during excavations at the Roman theater of Arles.

In 1681, the statue was given to Louis XIV, to adorn the Galerie des Glaces of Versailles.

Whilst restoring the statue, royal sculptor, François Girardon, added an apple to her right hand; as won in the Judgment of Paris, (a contest, in Greek mythology, between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympus; Aphrodite, Hera and Athena, to determine who was the fairest; the prize of a golden apple went to Aphrodite) and a mirror to her left.

The statue was taken from the royal collection during the French the Revolution and has been at the Musée du Louvre ever since

 A copy is also on display in the municipal building in Arles.

 

10. Mazarin Venus

Paul Getty Museum – Los Angeles, California

 

 

The Mazarin Venus, a 2nd century A.D marble statue, was discovered in Rome in 1509, once believed to have been owned by Cardinal Mazarin, advisor to Louis XIV, king of France.

Although this is doubtful, the statue continues to be known as the Mazarin Venus.

The statue had been extensively damaged; the breasts, as well as parts of the robe, arms, and dolphin, have been restored and the head may have been “borrowed” from some other “ancient body”.

 Indents on the back of the statue, were rumored to have been caused by gunshot, acquired during the French Revolution.

By the late 19th century, the statue had been mounted on a pedestal, engraved with the inscription “Venus de Mazarin”, when and who did this, was not known and by the 20th century, the pedestal had been removed.

A more convincing story is that the Venus statue was acquired by Nicolas Beaujon, who built the Chartreuse and the Folie-Beaujon gardens in the mid-18th century;

As early as 1853, an article was published, stating the statue to be the property of the Beaujon collection, the article also described the damage to the back of the statue, as being the result of cannon fire during the French Revolution .

The Mazarin Venus was sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1954 and remains there to this day.

 

Paintings Inspired by the Knidos Venus:

Aphrodite Anadyomene – Aphrodite Rising from the Sea – by Apelles of Kos

 

 

Again we glean our information from Pliny, Roman author and philosopher, who  tells us that Alexander the Great asked Apelles of Kos, one of the most famous and influential Greek painters and contemporary of Praxiteles, considered by many Italian Renaissance artists, including Botticelli and Tiepolo, to be the greatest painter who ever lived, to paint a portrait his favorite concubine; Campaspe.

 Whilst painting Campaspe’s picture, Apelles fell madly in love with her and it was she, who inspired Apelles’ famous painting, Aphrodite Anadyomene (Aphrodite Rising from the Sea).

 

 

However, according to Athenaeus, a Greek rhetorician (Late second century AD), the Apelles painting; Aphrodite Anadyomene – Aphrodite Rising from the Sea, was inspired by Phryne, who during the time of the The Eleusinian mysteries; secret religious rituals of ancient Greece, swam nude in the sea.

Phryne is said to have been the model for the original Knidos Venus and the lover of Praxiteles, who just happened to be the sculptor.

The painting, Aphrodite Anadyomene, Apelles’s most famous work (now lost), was displayed in the Asclepeion of Kos, an ancient healing sanctuary dedicated to the first doctor-demigod in Greek mythology, Asclepius.

 Kos just happened to be the island where Apelles was born and also the island whose people had requested that Praxiteles sculpt them a staue of Aphrodite.

They do say:

“There’s no such thing as a coincidence”!

 

The Knidos Venus was Also Thought to be the Inspiration Behind Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”

 

 

The pose of Venus, in Botticelli’s painting, “The Birth of Venus”, is almost identical to that of the statue of The Kindos Aphrodite, by the Greek sculpture, Praxiteles, who also stands in contrapposto position; balancing on one foot, body slightly twisted, with her hands covering her breasts and groin, in true the Venus Pudica style, (“Venus of Modesty”).

 

We’ll Always Have Venus

 

 

 For centuries, artists have studied the pose of the ancient Greek statue; its “S” shape is still considered the best-portrayed body of all time.

 Pure perfection was achieved with the advent of the Hellenistic period; the detail of the drapery, the turn of an ankle here, the crook of a finger there and everywhere, soft, fluid movement.

What better example of this is there than the Aphrodite of Knidos, with her air of modesty, that twist of her waist?

After this exceptional work of art, what?

 

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