Roman
Statue of the Aphrodite of Knidos
(Roman copy of the 4th century Greek original 
by Praxiteles)
2nd century A.D.
Marble
ht.: 168 cm
Katherine K. Adler, Harold L. Stuart, and Wirt D. Walker funds, 1981.11

This marble statue is a Roman replica of a lost, famous work by Praxiteles, a Greek sculptor of the fourth century B.C. The woman is Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, and she is shown as she is about to step into her ritual bath. Her graceful, serene pose represents the ideal of classical beauty.

Rome conquered Greece, but Romans admired Greek art and commissioned copies of the finest Greek sculptures. Although missing its head and arms, the skillful copy gives us a sense of the beauty of the lost original.