A Formal Analysis on Aphrodite

During my visit to the Carlos Museum at Emory University, I was amazed by the many works I saw from ancient times. They ranged from ancient Greek/Roman statues, Indian carvings, Egyptian mummies, to even Central American relics which we haven’t learned about in class. The piece that stood out to me the most, and what I will focus on for the rest of this essay, is the Aphrodite (Venus) statue, which is a Roman copy of the Greek original from the
1st century CE. Upon arriving at the Carlos Museum, Aphrodite (Venus) is one of the first works you immediately see to the right of the Museum’s foyer. Featured boldly and prominently in the ancient Greek/Roman exhibit, she certainly gives off this air of beauty and elegance immediately when you first see her. The statue itself is carved out of an ivory marble, and depicts a woman
(Aphrodite/Venus) nude, shyly covering her genitals while looking to her left while standing next to a cupid/cherub-like figure that is sitting atop of what appears to be a small whale of some sort. The statue’s right arm is broken off due to age, and the only fingers that remain on her left hand are her ring and pinky finger. The cupid/cherub and whale remain entirely intact. The statue as a whole seems just a tad bit under life-size, which I’m guessing is around 4’11” or so. This could’ve been intentional, or it could be that the Greeks/Romans at the time were a shorter people, and thus Aphrodite (Venus) would’ve been an accurate life-sized statue. The statue also uses contrapposto, as Aphrodite (Venus) is “turning” in space, with her weight placed on her right leg as her body subtly twists as she’s looking towards her left. The cupid/cherub figure also displays good use of contrapposto, albeit more dramatically as he bends and twists his body and arms to hold the small whale’s tail over his shoulder. And lastly, the statue as a whole is
“sculpture in the round”, meaning that you can walk around the entire statue