French school

Crouching Venus

19th century
White marble

H.: 57 cm

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Estimate : 3.000 - 4.000 €

Hammer Price : 6.600€

The antique type of the “Crouching Venus”, also titled ” naked Aphrodite “, knows a great enthusiasm in the art history. The Roman copy of imperial period preserved to the Palace of Offices to Florence was the object of numerous replica : mentioned for the first time in 1704 while it was in the Villa Medici in Rome, it is kept since 1787 to Offices to Florence, to the view of the artists of the “Grand Tour”. The version of the Louvre stemming from revolutionary seizures in 1798 (N°inv. My 53) which could well have inspired our work (although the departure of the right hand is more in height) gives the complete iconography: the goddess, resting on the leftknee,  pours probably some water on the back of her head or  tents to reach her back with the right hand, in a posture of a wide sensuality.

Referenced Artworks :
– Crouching Venus , Roman copy of 1rst or 2nd century  BC, after an original of the 3rd BC, marble, H : 78 cm, Florence, Palace of Offices;
– Crouching Venus, titled  « from Villa Adriana », Roman copy of 1rst or 2nd century  BC, after an original of the 3rd BC, marble, H 106 cm, Museo nazionale romano di Palazzo Massimo , Roma;
–Crouching Venus, titled of « Sainte Colombe », Roman copy of 1rst or 2nd century  AC, after an original of the 3rd BC, marble, H : 96 cm, Musée du Louvre, département des AGER , n° usuel inv.Ma.2240;
–Crouching Venus, Roman copy of 1rst or 2nd century  AC, after an original of the 3rd BC, marble, H : 56 cm, Musée du Louvre, département des AGER, n° usuel inv.Ma 53.