Large Statuette of Aphrodite

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Large Statuette of Aphrodite

Place of OriginSyria (acquired there in 1862)

Date250-150 BCE

DimensionsStatue & Base: 17 5/16 in. (44 cm)
Sculpture Only: 14 × 7 × 4 1/8 in. (35.5 × 17.8 × 10.5 cm)
Mount: 2 13/16 × 3 13/16 × 3 3/4 in. (7.2 × 9.7 × 9.6 cm)

MediumBronze, cast using the indirect lost-wax technique.

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1968.72

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

Collections

Decorative Arts

Published ReferencesRidder, André Pierre de Collection de Clercq; catalogue methodique et raisonné, Pairs, 1885-1911, 7 vols. in 8, vol. 3, 1905, Les Bronzes, p. 80, no. 112.

Toledo Museum of Art, "Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 12, no. 4, Winter 1969, repr.

Mitten, David Gordon, Classical Bronzes, Providence, 1975, pp. 69, 75, repr. p. 74.

Mattusch, Carol C., The Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzes from North American Collections, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Art Museums, 1996, no. 32, pp. 266-274, repr. 32a-d.

Heilmeyer, Wolf-Dieter, "Kunst und Material: antike Werktechniken und serielle Produktion," in Borbein A., Klassische Archäologie-eine Einführung, Berlin, 2000, p. 132, Abb.2(a). Hemingway, Seán A., The Horse and Jockey from Artemision: A Bronze Equestrian Monument of the Hellenistic Period, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2004, p. 68.

Exhibition HistoryChapel Hill, University of North Carolina, William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center; Small Sculpture in Bronze from the Classical World: An Exhibit in Honor of Emeline Hill Richardson, 1976, no. 28, repr.

South Hadley, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Transformations in Hellenistic Art, 1983, no. 4, p. 16, repr. (col.).

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Arthur M. Sackler Museum; Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art; Tampa, Tampa Museum of Art, The Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzes from North American Collections, 1996-1997.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Charbonneaux, Jean, Jean Bronzes Grecs, Paris, 1958, p. 121 (describes de Clercq Collection).Label TextSeveral variations of this Aphrodite statuette exist in museum collections. Their differences can be explained by examining the production process. An artist made the original model, from which molds were taken. A number of hollow wax figurines were then produced from the molds. Each wax working model was then finished independently by a skilled artisan, allowing for individualization of the details. These wax models were then cut up so the pieces could be cast in bronze separately in clay molds. In this case, the arms were cast separately from just below the shoulders. The artist then attempted to cover up the join by placing an armlet over the seam as decoration.