Aphrodite of Melos
- Title:
- Aphrodite of Melos
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown (possibly Alexandros of Antioch on the Maeander)
- Photographer:
- Mihaloew, Andreya
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
ca. 120-100 BCE
2014 (image)
- Site:
- Melos, Greece (discovery site) (original)
- Location:
- Klarman Hall Atrium, Cornell University
previously, Rand Hall (Room 300, Fine Arts Library), Cornell University
Melos, Greece (discovery site) (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0842
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 312
749 - File Name:
- CCC_0842.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 202 (H) cm
- Culture:
- Greek
- Style/Period:
- Hellenistic
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in the round (original) - Subject:
- Aphrodite (Greek deity)
- Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 216 (centimeters, height)
- Description:
- This is a cast of the over life-size standing, semi-nude statue of Aphrodite discovered on the Greek island of Melos in 1820, known as the Aphrodite of Melos or the Venus de Milo. The goddess places her weight on her right leg and bends her left leg forward. Her garment sits low on her hips, revealing the top of her buttocks when viewed from behind, and falls to the ground in heavy folds. She turns her head to her left and looks straight ahead. Her wavy hair is twisted up and a few errant locks fall on her neck. In the original, as here, the figure is missing her arms and left foot. While generally identified as Aphrodite, the identity of this figure is, indeed, speculative and heavily dependent upon the attributes she likely held in her missing arms. From January until July 2015, this object was exhibited in the Bartels Gallery, Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, as part of an exhibition titled "Cast and Present: Replicating Antiquity in the Museum and the Academy." This cast was conserved in winter 2014-2015.
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
MA 399 - Bibliography:
- Christine Mitchell Havelock, The Aphrodite of Knidos and Her Successors (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1995), 93-98
Alain Pasquier, La Vénus de Milo et les Aphrodites du Louvre (Paris: Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985)
Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny, Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981), 328-330 - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
Paris, Louvre (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.