The goddess is standing with her right arm
held apart from her body, her hair falling in
four long tresses down below the nape of
the neck.
In the vast Hellenic pantheon few gods enjoy
such an iconic status as Aphrodite, the goddess
of love, beauty, and sexual rapture. Venerated
by the Romans as Venus, Aphrodite's immortal
visage epitomizes the Greek standards of
classical beauty that remain the aspired aesthetic
of the modern day. Aphrodite has inspired
countless artists throughout the centuries; since
the Renaissance, the goddess has been
intrinsically linked to Botticelli’s masterpiece The
Birth of Venus, where the ethereal maiden rises
from the sea upon the sensuous pedestal of a
gaping clam.
According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Aphrodite was
born from the seed of Uranus, the divine father
whose genitals were cut off by his son Cronus
and thrown into sea. Fermenting with the tides, a
“white foam arose from the immortal flesh; with
it a girl grew,” begetting Aphrodite—a full-
grown woman, nubile and infinitely desirable.
Fearing the jealousies that would invariably arise
amongst the gods competing for her favor, Zeus
cast Aphrodite to the fiery, volcanic abode of
Hephaestus where she was betrothed to the
deformed god of smithing. To placate his
glamorous wife, Hephaestus forged marvelous
jewelry that made Aphrodite even more
irresistible to the hearts of men. Despite the
assiduous efforts of her faithful husband, the
divine seductress carried on legendary affairs
with Ares, Adonis, and Anchises, the latter
begetting a son, Aeneas—the Trojan hero and
mythic founder of Rome. Vain, glamorous, and
sadistically jealous, Aphrodite endures in
Western tradition as the very avatar of beauty,
elucidating the mystery of sex that was for the
Greeks as perplexing as it is today.
What remains of this magnificent representation
from the 1st century B.C. is a marble torso
measuring just over seven inches high; though
deprived of head and limb, little imagination is
required to envision the lost remains of this
glorious statue. Though modest in proportion,
this superb relic of ancient artistry survives as a
memory and testament to the Hellenic mythology
so imbued in the cultural traditions of the West.
With her sensuous curves and soft, gentle form,
the ancient sculptor has achieved a truly
remarkable feat through brilliant, polished
marble—that eternal stone so emblematic of the
classical age. From her youthful breasts to the
delicate features running down her spine, this
profoundly beautiful creation captures the
eroticism and mystery befitting the goddess of
love—an enviable treasure every bit as relevant
today as it once was for its ancient adorer.
Ref: P. Blome, 'Basel Museum of Ancient Art and
Ludwig Collection', (Geneva, 1999), p. 23, no.
18.