The Ludovisi Cnidian Aphrodite, Roman marble copy (torso and thighs) with restored head, arms, legs and drapery support

The Aphrodite of Cnidus was one of the most famous works of the Attic sculptor Praxiteles (4th century BC). It and its copies are often referred to as the Venus Pudica (modest Venus) type, on account of her covering her groin with her right hand. Variants of the Venus Pudica are the Venus de' Medici or the Capitoline Venus. Knidos or Cnidus (modern-day Tekir in Turkey) is an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor, once part of the country of Caria. ... Attica (in Greek: Αττική, Attike; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. ... why hello hello Sculptor redirects here. ... Praxiteles of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus, was the greatest of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BC, who has left an imperishable mark on the history of art. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 4th century BC started on January 1, 400 BC and ended on December 31, 301 BC. // Overview Events Bust of Alexander the Great in the British Museum. ... The Venus de Medici The Venus de Medici or Medici Venus is a lifesize (1. ...

Original

The statue became famous for its beauty, meant to be appreciated from every angle, and for being one of the first representations of a goddess completely nude. It depicted Aphrodite as she prepared for the ritual bath that restored her virginity, discarding her drapery in her left hand, while modestly shielding her genitals with her right hand. Statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of the agriculture A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a god. Many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger pantheon that includes both the conventional genders and in some cases... The word nude may refer to: The state of nudity. ... The Birth of Venus, (detail) by Sandro Botticelli, 1485 Aphrodite (Greek: Ἀφροδίτη, pronounced in English as and in Ancient Greek as ) was the Greek goddess of love, lust, beauty, and sexuality. ...

According to a possibly apocryphal account by Pliny, Praxiteles received a commission from the citizens of Kos for a statue of the goddess Aphrodite. Praxiteles then created two versions— one fully draped, and the other completely nude. The shocked citizens of Kos rejected the nude statue and purchased the draped version. The design and appearance of the draped version is today unknown as it didn't survive, nor did it appear to have merited attention, to judge from the lack of surviving accounts. Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... Port and city view of Kos town on the island Kos. ...

The rejected nude was purchased by some citizens of Knidos and set up in an open air temple that permitted viewing of the statue from all sides. It quickly became one of the most famous works by Praxiteles for the bold depiction of Aphrodite as proudly and erotically nude. Knidos or Cnidus (modern-day Tekir in Turkey) is an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor, once part of the country of Caria. ...

Engraving of a coin from Knidos showing the Aphrodite of Cnidus, by Praxiteles

Praxiteles was alleged to have used the courtesan Phryne as a model for the statue, which added to the gossip surrounding its origin. The statue became so widely known and copied that in a hyperbolic anecdote the goddess Aphrodite herself came to Knidos to see it, and asked ..."Where did Praxiteles see me naked?". Image File history File links Knidos-coin-Aphrodite. ... Image File history File links Knidos-coin-Aphrodite. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... A coin is usually a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is issued by a government to be used as a form of money. ... Phryne was a famous courtesan of ancient Greece who adjusted her prices for customers depending upon how she felt about them. ...

The statue became a tourist attraction in spite of being a cult image and patron of the Knidians. Nicomedes I of Bithynia offered to pay off the enormous debts of the city of Knidos in exchange for the statue, but the Knidians rejected his offer. The tradition— apparently prompted by a stain in the marble on the rear of one thigh— that the statue was so lifelike that a young man secreted himself in the cella at night and attempted to copulate with it ^[1] is recorded in the dialogue Erotes (section 15), traditionally misattributed to Lucian of Samosata. The dialogue offers the fullest literary description of the temenos of Aphrodite at Knidos: In the practice of religion, a cult image is a man-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. ... Nicomedes I (in Greek Nικoμηδης; 279–c. ... A cella, in Ancient Greek and Roman temples was the central room that housed cult statues. ... The Erōtes or Amores is a Greek dialogue, an example of contest literature, comparing the love of women and the love of boys, preferring the latter. ... Lucian of Samosata (c. ... Greek Temenos ([1], from the Greek verb to cut) (plural = temene) is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god, a sanctuary, holy grove or holy...

The floor of the court had not been doomed to sterility by a stone pavement, but on the contrary, it burst with fertility, as behooves Aphrodite: fruit trees with verdant foliage rose to prodigious heights, their limbs weaving a lofty vault. The myrtle, beloved by the goddess, reached up its berry-laden branches no less than the other trees which so gracefully stretched out. They never know foliage grown old, their boughs always being thick with leaves. To tell the truth, you can notice among them some infertile trees, but they have beauty as their fruit. Such were the cypress and the planes which towered to the heavens, as well as the tree of Daphnis, who once fled Aphrodite but now has come here to seek refuge. Ivies entwine themselves lovingly around each of these trees. Heavy clusters of grapes hang from the gnarled vines: indeed, Aphrodite is only more attractive when united with Bacchus; their pleasures are sweeter for being mixed together. Apart, they have less spice. Under the welcome shade of the boughs, comfortable beds await the celebrants— actually the better people of the town only rarely frequent these green halls, but the common crowds jostle there on festive days, to yield publicly to the joys of love. (Pseudo-Lucian, Erotes)

Of the Aphrodite herself, the narrator resorts to hyperbole: Daphnis can also be a genus of hawk moth, and a moon of Saturn Sculpture of Pan teaching Daphnis to play the pipes; ca. ...

When we had exhausted the charms of these places we pressed on into the temple itself. The goddess stands in the center; her statue made of marble from Paros. Her lips are slightly parted by a lofty smile. Nothing hides her beauty, which is entirely exposed, other than a furtive hand veiling her modesty. The art of the sculptor has succeeded so well that it seems the marble has shed its hardness to mold the grace of her limbs (Pseudo-Lucian, Erotes)

Parian marble is a fine-grained semitranslucent pure-white marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros. ...

Copies

The Knidian Aphrodite has not survived. Possibly the statue was removed to Constantinople (İstanbul) and was lost in a fire during the Nika riots. It was one of the most widely copied statues in the ancient world, so a general idea of the appearance of the statue can be gleaned from the descriptions and replicas that have survived to the modern day. For a time in 1969, the archaeologist Iris Love thought she had found the only surviving fragments of the original statue, which are now in storage at the British Museum. The prevailing opinion of archaeologists is that the fragment in question is not of the Knidia, but of a different statue. Map of Constantinople. ... The location of Istanbul Province Maiden Tower and Historical Peninsula of Istanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul) (the former Constantinople, Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ... The Nika riots (Greek: Στάση του Νίκα), or Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in 532. ... The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2000 to become the Great Court, with a tessellated glass roof by Buro Happold and Foster and Partners surrounding the original Reading Room. ...

The Kaufmann Head in the Louvre Museum.

• Probably the most faithful replica of the statue is the Colonna Venus conserved in the Museo Pio-Clementino, part of the collections of the Vatican Museums.

• The Kaufmann Head in the Musée du Louvre is thought to be a very faithful Roman reproduction of the head of the Knidian Aphrodite.

• At Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli in Italy, there is an ancient recreation of the temple at Knidos with a fragmentary replica of the Aphrodite standing at the center of it, generally matching descriptions in ancient accounts of how the original was displayed.

As well as straight copies, the Aphrodite of Cnidus also inspired various variations include: Entrance to the museum Staircase of the Vatican Museum The Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City, which display works from the extensive collection of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre) in Paris, France, is one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. ... The villas recreation of Canopus, a resort near Alexandria, as seen from the temple of Serapis Theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy in refined mosaic, from the villa (Capitoline Museum, Rome) The Villa of the Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli, Italy, even in ruined condition is one of the most... Tivoli, the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, some 20 km from Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river, where it issues from the Sabine hills. ...

• the Capitoline Venus (Capitoline Museums, Rome)
• the Barberini Venus
• the Borghese Venus
• the Aphrodite of Arles (Louvre, Paris)
• the Aphrodite of Milos (aka the Venus de Milo, Louvre, Paris)
• the Venus de' Medici (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)
• the Esquiline Venus (Louvre, Paris)
• the Crouching Venus (Louvre, Paris and British Museum, London)
• the Aphrodite Kallipygos (aka Venus Kalypygos, Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli, Naples)
• the Venus Victrix (Uffizi Gallery)
• Venus Urania (Uffizi Gallery)

Michelangelos design for Capitoline Hill, now home to the Capitoline Museums. ... Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 8th century BC Mayor Walter Veltroni Area    - City 1,285 km²  (496. ... The Aphrodite of Milos otherwise known as the Venus de Milo is an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous of the art of ancient Greek sculpture. ... The Venus de Medici The Venus de Medici or Medici Venus is a lifesize (1. ... The Uffizi Gallery (Italian: Galleria degli Uffizi) is a palace or palazzo in Florence, holding one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. ... Florences skyline Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ... The Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli (National Archaeological Museum) is located in Naples, Italy. ... The Bay of Naples Naples (Italian: , Neapolitan: Nàpule, from Greek Νεάπολη < Νέα Πόλις Néa Pólis New City) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of the Campania region and the Province of Naples. ...

Notes

Pygmalion may refer to the following: Pygmalion, a king of Tyre, brother of Queen Dido of Carthage. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Category:Venus pudica

• Further information on the Aphrodite of Knidos and a link to a 3D view of a plaster cast of the Colonna Venus at a German link.
• Entry page for the Vatican Museums.
• Webpage showing a photo of the recreation of the Knidian Aphrodite's temple at Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wikimedia Commons logo by Reid Beels The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

References

• Theodor Kraus. Die Aphrodite von Knidos. Walter Dorn Verlag, Bremen/Hannover, 1957.
• Leonard Closuit. L'Aphrodite de Cnide: Etude typologique des principales répliques antiques de l'Aphrodite de Cnide de Praxitèle. Imrimerie Pillet - Martigney, 1978.
• Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny. Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture, 1500-1900. Yale University Press, New Haven/London, 1981.
• Christine Mitchell Havelock. The Aphrodite of Knidos and Her Successors: A Historical Review of the Female Nude in Greek Art. University of Michigan Press, 1995.