The Venus de Clercq: Icon of Difference

Mark Abbe, Associate Professor of Art History

Statue of Aphrodite (Venus de Clercq). Marble with polychromy. H. 97.2 cm. c. 200 CE. J. Paul Getty Villa, inv. 72.AA.93.

The Venus de Clercq is a remarkably well-preserved Roman marble statue representing the famous Aphrodite of Knidos (the first monumental female nude in classical sculpture) by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles, c. 350 BCE. This presentation describes a current multidisciplinary research project jointly undertaken with conservation and scientific colleagues at the J. Paul Getty Villa to reinvestigate this sculpture conventionally named after its 19th century owner, Louis de Clercq, the French archaeological photographer and art collector. The historic provenance and marble carving technique of the statue suggest it is closely associated with a larger group of sculptures reported to originate from the so-called “Mithraeum” at Sidon (Lebanon) discovered around the 1880s. Multispectral imaging and scientific characterization of the Aphrodite’s little-noted polychromy shed new light on the statue’s sumptuous ancient appearance and iconography. It is argued that a new local understanding of this polychrome statue is possible, and that in its ancient context it was viewed as much more than an expertly finished marble replica of one of the most celebrated and widely reproduced works of Greek sculpture.

Tea and cookies starting at 5:00 pm

Presentation at 5:30 pm