This gorgeous Late Roman polished bone sculpture of a nude woman probably represents Venus. Ancient goddess of love, Venus appears before us, a beautiful bone statuette created by a skilled Roman artist. One of the twelve Olympians, Venus (known to the Greeks as Aphrodite) was one of the most celebrated deities of the ancients, known as the goddess of beauty, mother of love, queen of laughter, mistress of the graces and of pleasures, patroness of courtesans. In this gorgeous bone sculpture, her slender body conforms to the cylindrical nature of the material. She stands with her legs held tightly together atop a pierced base whose form recalls a column capital. Her hair is parted down the middle and a diadem crowns her head. Her eyes are large, her nose straight, and her lips small. Three lightly incised lines around her neck indicate the fleshy folds known as “Venus rings” that help confirm her attribution. She has nicely rounded breasts, a dot for her navel, and stippling to indicate her pubic area. In her pierced ears, she originally wore thin gold wire earrings; remarkably, the one in her right ear remains intact. As with similar bone sculptures, the now missing arms would have been attached to the mortises in the shoulders. This delicate sculpture captures all the grace and beauty of Venus. - (X.0061)

Antiquities
Ancient Roman