Capitoline Venus, Grand Tour bronze

An elegant bronze with a dark brown patina depicting the Capitoline Venus, also known as the Capitoline Aphrodite. The goddess is depicted standing naked, in a modest pose: one hand drawn across her chest and the other covering her lower body. Her head is slightly tilted and turned to one side, complementing a supple posture characterised by the sway of the hips typical of ancient models.
At her side stands a pedestal adorned with carefully modelled drapery. The figure rests on an oval bronze plinth, which in turn is mounted on a cylindrical base of breccia marble, topped with a circular moulding of white marble.
Created in the 19th century, this sculpture is part of the so-called ‘Grand Tour’ bronzes. These smaller versions of famous ancient sculptures were acquired in Italy by European travellers as mementoes of their artistic and cultural education. Valued as much for their decorative quality as for their reference to antiquity, they bear witness to the Neoclassical taste that dominated much of the 19th century.

Dimensions: H 51.5 cm – Marble base H 11 cm – diameter 18 cm

19th-century Italian school.

Lit: The model is the famous Capitoline Venus, an ancient marble statue now housed in the Palazzo Nuovo of the Capitoline Museums in Rome. Standing 193 cm tall, it was discovered on the Viminal, one of Rome’s seven hills. The Capitoline Museums describe it as a work based on the prototype of the Aphrodite of Cnidus, created by Praxiteles in the 4th century BCE. Capitoline Museums
The statue belongs to the ‘Modest Aphrodite’ type, in which the goddess, caught whilst bathing, attempts to conceal her nudity. The Roman example is remarkable for its excellent state of preservation. It is on display in a specially dedicated octagonal room, the Cabinet of Venus, in the Palazzo Nuovo.