Western art has always presented itself with ideas of the perfect female figure. As time goes on the change and conquest for the perfect image of the female body seems never ending. The Venus of Willendorf was apart of the Old Stone age. Although one can guess we actually have no way of proving the sculptures message or purpose. From 25,000 BCE when Willendorf was mae fast forwarding to 350 BCE when Aphrodite was made marks the first nude sculpture of a women in Greek art. Praxiteles created the Aphrodite of Knidos. The name Aphrodite stems from the goddess of love. Both sculptures form their own romanticized version of the female body from two different perspectives. The Venus of Willendorf and the Aphrodite of Knido both successfully portray culture in different time periods. They both …show more content…
The piece is so small that one can fit it in just the palm of their hand. It’s lack of facial features and detailed body parts can imply to someone that it is meant to represent fertility. On the contrary Aphrodite is not a fertility symbol but rather a representation of goddess like beauty. In the Paleolithic time Venus’s image was the one idealized by the starving. The Venus of Willendorf has a lot of extra weight while Aphrodite does not. It is also important to note that Paleolithic art included almost all female figures and no males. In Aphrodite’s time the first sculpture of a naked woman came as a shock for them. The Aphrodite of Knidos, was sculpted from marble and has had it’s original copy lost. Because it was made using the medium of marble the 66 inch tall sculpture appears more human like. Aphrodite in the sculpture is shown before she takes a bath. Making their sculptures to look like they were actually performing human like activities was part of the Greek art style. As compared to Willendorf, even though they are both nude the sculpture of Aphrodite is not sensual in any
Ca.630 BCE. Limestone. This is a women freestanding statue in Greek art. Both of these two statues are youth sculpture and freestanding which are the naturalistically and not stocky. They do not have muscles and a strong body, I can only see they are being the lean body types. As the female statue, her feet are standing on the same level, but the male one is not. She is putting her right hand on her chest and wearing clothes to wrap her slim body. Thus, the Greek art only has little bit impact by Egyptians. Portraying nude men can be accepted, but for women it is not.
The speech by Pausanius in Plato’s Symposium divides the goddess Aphrodite into two beings, each responsible for a different aspect of love. To prove the existence of her double life he cites her creation. There are two versions of the birth of Aphrodite, one coming from Hesiod’s work, Theogony, where she is borne out of Uranus’ castrated genitals as they splash into the sea; the other is from Homer’s work, the Illiad, where she is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Dione. (Notes on Plato’s Symposium 180e) From these two vastly different creations she takes on two vastly different forms. Pausanius describes one of her forms as “Celestial” love. This type of love springs out of the Aphrodite created from Uranus’ genitals. This form is “wholly male” (Symposium 180c) which inspires men to be a...
This statue is the most well known sculpture, made during the transition period between the late archaic and classical period. It allows modern viewers to see the transition between the stoic Kouro and Kourai to the more sensual, defined and human-like figurines of the later periods Sculptures like Kritios Boy filled friezes in elite Roman villas and magnificent buildings like the Parenthon. It is seplucated that this statue was made between 400-480 BCE, by the artist Krito a philosopher, teacher and artist. They're many ideas relating to sculptures representation, most historians agree that it may represent the youth and virility of a victor returning from war. Due to the location the statue was found it is safe to assume that Athenians
Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology, because Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture. She was desired by nearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt. Olympus, and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of the opposite sex. There are many origins to Aphrodite's birth. Some of them are: She arose full-grown out of the foam of the sea, She is the daughter of Zeus and Dionne, She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, which would make her a Titaness, or She is the daughter of Titans Oceanus and Tethys, making her an Oceanid. (Dittus 34-35) “The most common origin of her birth is her being foam-born, which is what her name means” (Parin 45). This origin says that Aphrodite arose nude and full-grown out of the foam of the sea and riding into the shore of Cythera on a scallop shell. She found Cythera to be too small of an island, so she went to live in Paphos, in Cyprus, which is still the principal seat of her worship.
For the Hellenistic period this image is exceptionally idealized, as it represents the perfect female figure in society at the time. Because Aphrodite was the Goddess of love and beauty the way that she is portrayed in this piece is a representation of the qualities which she is the patron for – curves, nudity (beauty), and the pubic triangle (fertility). While her right hand is holding the apple she is using her other hand to reach for the piece of cloth that appears to be falling or sliding off of her, which can be a portrayal of
The Woman from Willendorf, just as the name suggest was discovered in Willendorf, Austria in 1908 during an archeological excavation of the area. The small figurine is heavily regarded as one of the most important Paleolithic discoveries. Carved in the round from limestone the figure the figure is undeniably female with it’s exaggerated features. Some of the most recognizable features of the rounded figure include the large pendulous breast, the
The Greeks found this so appealing because it looked very similar to themselves in form but because Aphrodite is naked, it showed the separation from the “mere mortals” (Berz). She seems modest with her sexuality by trying to cover her genitals, but she is very strong and secure with her head high. Women were also able to compare themselves with this sculpture because it was not ideal; Aphrodite was not blonde with blue eyes, but she was as she
The author of the Latin poem, The Vigil of Venus, remains a mystery, along with the date it was penned. Many have speculated who might have written this piece of poetry, but no one can be certain. It is assumed that it was written in early spring on the eve of the festival of Venus, and set it what might be Sicily. The writer is focused on the natural world, and seems motivated by love, spring, and hope of the renewal of both. Some believe this particular piece is seen through the eyes of Venus, known in Greek mythology as the mother of the Roman people. Critics might argue that this poem somehow suggests the imminent fall of the Roman Empire, and while I agree with this possible explanation, I could argue
Aphrodite is one of the most well known gods to the Greek people (called Venus to Romans). She is known to be the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. So being the goddess of love and beauty, one would only want to make a beautiful sculpture to honor the goddess, hence the creation of the Venus de Milo. This paper will examine the history of the sculpture. Firstly, I will give a brief history of the sculpture. Secondly, I will give a formal analysis of the sculpture. Finally, I will discuss why this sculpture is known to be one of the most famous sculptures from the Hellenistic period.
The Venus of Willendorf was believed to be created 25,000 years ago, is none-freestanding sculpture and is sculpted out of oolitic limestone. The subject matter, I believe it to convey a fertility figure for men and woman to gaze upon. The Venus of Willendorf is a none-freestanding female nude stature, which is an 11 centimeters high, made out of oolitic limestone and now resides in Naturhistorisches Museum. She was found in 1908 in Austria in a village called Willendorf. The stature has been carved out of oolitic limestone and has been given a red ochre tint. This small oolitic limestone figure representing a woman in the nude has no known artist and no information on why it was created. I believe that
However, for a man to appear naked conferred his power, his strong body and strong mind, while for a woman to appear naked would be indecent and confer immodesty. Sculptures of unclothed women were usually of the Goddesses of love and sexuality, which justifies the nudity. The need to justify female nudity while male nudity was considered commonplace already reflects ideas about gender. In the sculpture, the woman is clothed in a mantle, which symbolizes modesty. Women were treated as vessels for children, not as human beings capable of aggressive sexuality. (invisible; not
...ly male and all early nude art shows males, an ideal of female beauty rapidly gained ground in the century around Plato. In the three phases we can distinguish in the decoration of the Parthenon, the female figures are shown with progressively more diaphanous and revealing clothing. One of the earliest complete female nudes was a statue of Aphroditê that the great sculptor Praxiteles did for the island of Cos. He used as a model a famous courtesan named Phrynê (the scene of Phrynê posing at right is by the National Geographic painter H.M. Herget in Everyday Life in Ancient Times [National Geographic Society, 1961]). This was all rather shocking for the good people of Cos, who asked Praxiteles to do a more modest statue. He did, but the original went to the island of Cnidos, where it became a major local attraction. In Vamps and Tramps, Camille Paglia mentions that male visitors were so excited by the statue that they sometimes embarrassed themselves after the fashion of Pee Wee Herman. Eventually, the goddess herself was quoted as saying, "Alas, where did Praxiteles see me naked?" By the Hellenistic Age, female nudes were as common as male nudes.
Aphrodite and Athena were both great powerful women who were revered as goddesses in greek mythology. They both were greatly worshipped, however due to their distinct personality traits they were worshipped and spoken about and very different ways. Both goddesses are immortal and female, and both seem to distinguish the incongruous gender roles between men and women throughout ancient Greece. What makes these two goddesses interesting, however, is their differences, which will determine how they will be reflected in myth. On one hand you have Athena, the androgynous goddess of war and wisdom. On the other you have Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality. During this time, even among the immortals, women were seen as inferior and less
Aphrodite leg is creating a V shape. Hera seems to be modeled after Aphrodite of Knidos, with her hand somewhat modestly place to cover the female part and her body shape is also quite similar too Aphrodite of Knidos. Athena on the other hand, is giving the audience her full back. Her body creates “s” shape with gives a sense of motion. All four females depicted in the painting have that ideal female body congruent with Greek ideal at that time, 0.7 waists to hip ratio, unfit, non-muscular body. Same can be said with all the males depicted in the painting, they all adhere to the male ideal body; they are all extremely muscular and ripped, ready to protect their town and women, even Eros, a child has an extremely muscular body. Paris is seen horizontally extending his arm towards to Aphrodite granting her the apple, show casing every arm muscle just like in Discus Thrower, as if the artist just capture the exact moment of motion. There is an implied line, directing the viewer’s eyes towards the focal point, Aphrodite and Paris. All the character’s eye direction in the painting is going towards Paris choice of giving the apple to Aphrodite instead of choosing to give it to Hera or Athena. Furthermore, a dog, next to Paris, is seen horizontally lying down on the floor, which according to Greek culture, dogs were the protectors, they are calm, loyal and devoted to their masters. The viewer based on location and proximity of the dog to Paris can conclude that he will protect Paris from harm, foreshadowing the Trojan War, which Paris escapes alive. There is also iconography in the painting such as Eros, to identify Aphrodite, a peacock to identify Hera, and armor for