An idealised head of the Roman goddess Venus carved from cream marble. The head is inclined slightly to the true left, suggesting a sense of supple movement that contributes to the sensuality suggested by the heavy-lidded almond shaped eyes and parted lips. The upper row of teeth are visible below the upper lip, which exhibits a pronounced cupid’s bow. The skin of the forehead and cheeks is smooth, rounded and finely carved to suggest great softness. The head is parted in loose waves above the centre of the face, falling gently down to partially cover the ears, and tied at the nape to flow in thick locks over the back of the neck.

Venus was the Roman goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation – the Roman variant of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Venus was central to many religious festivals, and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles. Some believed her to be a daughter of Jupiter, but according to Hesiod’s Theogony, Venus was created, or ‘born’, of the sea foam after the blood of Uranus fell into the water. This latter explanation appears to be the more popular theory due to the countless artworks depicting Venus rising from the sea in a clam. Venus was one of the ‘Dei Consentes’, the Roman Council of twelve major gods in ancient Rome. Her Greek counterpart was one of the twelve original Olympian Deities and one of the most commonly represented deities in art and literature. Her figure was often presented as an ideal nude (she was born already a nubile post-pubescent adult), and her statues were common throughout Ancient Greece. During the first decades of the 1st century A.D., the Roman interest in all things Hellenistic led to the creation of many sculptures of Venus modelled after Greek originals. This trend quickly spread throughout the empire, and today provides us with a fascinating insight into both Roman art history and the vast corpus of now-lost Greek statues of the goddess that must have once existed. 

Published

Antiquities, Bonhams, London, 24 October 2012, Lot 102.

Provenance

Previously in the Private Collection of Professor Cecil Erskine (1912-2006), Dublin, acquired in the 1950s-1960s.
Thence by descent to his daughter.
Sold at: Antiquities, Bonhams, London, 24 October 2012, Lot 102, consigned by the above.
Private Collection, USA.
IADAA Certificate, this item has been checked against the Interpol database.

Note on the Provenance

Professor Cecil Erskine (1912-2006) started his medical career at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, before working at King’s College, University of Durham Medical School, and St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School at Imperial College, London. He was appointed Professor of Anatomy and the antique chair of Professor of Anatomy and Chirurgery at Trinity College, Dublin, from 1947 until his retirement in 1984. Erskine himself painted and sculpted many art pieces still displayed in the Dissecting Room and Lecture Theatre in Trinity: eleven large canvas paintings, copies of Vesalius’ anatomical drawings, two large sculptures, and two copper panels. He was deeply interested in art and photography, and an avid collector of modern sculpture and paintings, Asian Art, and Antiquities. Erskine died on 30 May 2006 at the age of 93 and was survived by his two daughters, Margaret and Alexander.

Head of Leda