Head of Aphrodite
Head of Aphrodite
Date2nd century CE
Mediummarble
Dimensionsobject: 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm)
ClassificationSCULPTURE
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Wright S. Ludington
Object number1978.4.9
Subject(s)
- mythology
- women
- heads and faces
- deity
Collection
- Antiquity
Sub-Collection(s)
- Roman
On View
On viewCollections
Label TextThis head of the goddess Venus comes from a Roman copy of an earlier Greek sculpture. The style resembles the work of the fourth century BCE artist Praxiteles, who famously created the first nude sculpture of the goddess and whose work was copied for centuries. Recent research has also shown that this head, after being broken from its body some time in antiquity, was attached to another ancient body of the goddess probably some time in the eighteenth century. It was common in recent centuries to connect different fragments to create a ‘complete’ ancient sculpture. Eventually the head and the body were separated again and today the body can be found at the Tampa Museum of Art.
The goddess wears a headband, with her hair in a broad knot on top of her head and collected in a bun at the back. This hair style reflects the sculpture’s influence from an earlier sculpture. In the second century CE, elaborate hairstyles inspired by sculptures of goddesses came into fashion for wealthy Roman women who took their cue from empresses in wanting to be represented as Venus in their portraiture. To achieve these complicated styles with real hair, they would have relied on hair extensions carefully braided in and arranged by the enslaved members of their household.
The goddess wears a headband, with her hair in a broad knot on top of her head and collected in a bun at the back. This hair style reflects the sculpture’s influence from an earlier sculpture. In the second century CE, elaborate hairstyles inspired by sculptures of goddesses came into fashion for wealthy Roman women who took their cue from empresses in wanting to be represented as Venus in their portraiture. To achieve these complicated styles with real hair, they would have relied on hair extensions carefully braided in and arranged by the enslaved members of their household.
