Venus Of Willendorf Essay

Through the study of the ancient world, art historians have examined an ample amount of women statuettes. One of the most eminent of these sculptures is known as the Venus of Willendorf, which depicts a tiny figurine of a woman in 25,000 BC. From its discovery, its popularity escalated not only for its rarity, but also for the evidence to achieve a better understanding of our ancestors’ creativity and culture. However, despite its amiability, the Venus of Willendorf still brings about an abundance amount of controversial issues of femininity and sexuality; her name itself has stimulated debates as to why archeologists have named her such a way that it was only thought in Greek or Roman implications. Today, due to her great age, history, and conspicuous female form, the Venus of Willendorf is recognized as an icon of
Made from oolitic limestone, tinted red with trace of ochre, this figurine depicts a faceless woman with pendulous breasts, an obese stomach, and pronounced buttocks. While its’ belly button and vulva unequivocally defined, its feet appear to be broken off. Also, this stumpy 11 cm female figure’s head is almost entirely covered by braided pattern and has only a limited amount of straight lines to break with the soft, sloping curves. Over the centuries, Archeologists have made many speculations of its significance for the nomadic society. The first suggestion describes that this figure could have been used as a symbol of fertility. Having such enlarged stomach, breasts, and emphasized pubic area, Venus of Willendorf was believed to have warranted the stress on female reproductive organs; exemplifying the red ochre pigment covering as a symbol of menstrual blood. Not only that, hair also has a long history as a source of erotic attraction giving more evidence to this figurine being a form of