A fine alabaster statue of Venus (Greek Aphrodite) of Medici type, the nude goddess of love shown standing, leaning slightly forward with her weight on her left leg, right leg slightly bent and advanced, the arms would have originally covered her modesty, head turned to left with idealised soft facial features and serene expression, a fillet to her wavy hair tied in chignon at the nape of the neck, the hairstyle resembling closely that of the Capitoline Venus; behind her Cupid standing next to a small tree trunk, tail of a dolphin above his head; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

PROVENANCE:
Property of a Dutch collector; formerly exhibited at Tefaf, Maastricht (15-24 March 2013); acquired on the European art market between 1990-1995; in a private Frankfurt, Germany collection; accompanied by copies of two previous catalogue entries; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no. 10533-171171.

PUBLISHED:
Exhibited at Tefaf, Maastricht, 15-24 March 2013.

LITERATURE:
Cf. Pasquier, A., Martinez, J.L., Praxitele, Musee du Louvre, Paris, 2007, pp.146-149, fig.109; Havelock, C.M., The Aphrodite of Knidos and her Successors, University of Michigan, 1995, pp.74-80, fig.19; Smith, R.R.R., Hellenistic Sculpture, London, 1991, pp.79-83, fig.100.

FOOTNOTES:
This statue closely resembles the marble statue 'Venus de' Medici' today in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, from which the type derives its name. The Medici Venus is now considered to be the work of a Greek sculptor, possibly Kleomenes, from circa 100 BC (probably from an Athenian workshop) deriving from an original of the time of Praxiteles, 4th century BC.