This graceful tabletop bronze figural sculpture depicts the "Venus Callipygian". The original Roman sculpture is life-size and in marble. It is itself a copy of the older Greek Hellenistic Period bronze sculpture of Aphrodite, which has been long lost. Here, Venus reveals her buttocks and looks over her shoulder in an erotic pose popular in the Cult of Aphrodite. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the marble Roman version was on display only for private viewing. This smaller bronze version of the sculpture is a Grand Tour Souvenir purchased in the late nineteenth century at a tourist site near the Roman statue's venue in the Naples National Archeological Museum. There is also a life-size marble copy of the image in the gardens of Versailles in France. Measures 4.5"x4.5"x10.5". Weight 3 lbs 11 oz. PROVENANCE: Gippy Plantation

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