Description:
A small terracotta stela with remains of the original colours. Standing between two columns and below an arch decorated as a scallop shell, is the figure of the goddess Venus, holding her tresses. She is accompanied by a dolphin, its body curved and its head down, as if jumping out of the sea.
This is a depiction of Venus Anadyomene (meaning “Venus rising up” in Greek), the Roman counterpart of the Greek Aphrodite Anadyomene.
According to the Greek poet Hesiod (around 700 B.C.), Aphrodite was born as the result of the castration of Ouranos by Kronos. His genitals were thrown into the sea, a white foam spread around them, and in it grew Aphrodite. She was swept away, first to the island of Cythera and then to Cyprus. There she rose from the sea, which according to local tradition took place in an area east of Paphos, now called Petra tou Romiou. Hesiod (Theogony 190-197) explains the name Aphrodite as having come forth from the foam (aphros meaning foam).
The moment has become famous in art history. Many representations are known, starting with a much admired depiction by the painter Apelles of Kos in the 4th century B.C., and followed by the works of great artists of later centuries like Botticelli, Titian and many others, including Picasso.
The painting by Apelles was brought to Rome by the emperor Augustus, but is now lost; however, it was described by the Roman author Pliny the Elder (died 79 A.D.) in his Natural History. A famous mural from the Casa di Venus in Pompeii is believed to be based on the painting by Apelles. It shows the goddess on a sea shell, accompanied by Cupid riding a dolphin which has a position similar to the animal on the stela offered here.
Dating:
Roman, 2nd-3rd century C.E.
Size:
Height 19.5 cm.
Provenance:
Estate of Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910-1996). Koutoulakis was an art dealer, based in Geneva, who also worked as a consultant for many important collectors like J. Paul Getty, Norbert Schimmel and George Ortiz. He had contacts with many museum curators and archaeologists like Bernard Ashmole, Dietrich von Bothmer, Bernhard V. Bothmer, Roman Ghirshman and Spyridon Marinatos, and donated objects to several major museums.
SOLD
Stock number:
C1076