Details

LOT 0123

Eastern Greek Marble Figure of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty

1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

12 3/4 in. (1.2 kg, 32.7 cm).

Carved in the round figure of the goddess standing nude with one hand raised and the other on her pudendum, her hair gathered into a chignon with lateral bunches on the crown and with voids to allow for the suspension of small gold earrings; putto at her left knee; left hand partly absent; remounted on a socle base.

Provenance

Acquired in the 1992.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12860-241669.

Literature

Cf. Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuarie grecque et romaine, Paris, 1930, pp.334ff., and especially no.7 of p.334.

Footnotes

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, was one of the most widely worshipped deities in the ancient world, particularly across the eastern Greek regions of Asia Minor. In these areas, her image often blended traditional Greek ideals with local influences, giving rise to distinctive regional styles. Marble figures such as this would have served not only as works of art but also as expressions of devotion, reflecting both personal piety and broader cultural values surrounding beauty, fertility, and desire. The enduring popularity of Aphrodite’s image speaks to her central role in daily life, where she was invoked not just in matters of love, but also in marriage, prosperity, and well-being.