40 - Neoclassical school; Possibly Italy, early 19th century.

Neoclassical school; Possibly Italy, early 19th century. "Kneeling Venus". Marble. Measurements: 87 x 45 x 47 cm. This marble sculpture follows the ancient model of the "Crouching Venus", preserved in the Vatican Museums. The crouching Venus is a Hellenistic sculpture of Venus surprised in her bath. Venus crouches with her right knee close to the ground, turns her head to the right and, in most versions, extends her right arm over her left shoulder to cover her breasts, as in this particular case. Judging by the number of copies that have been excavated from Roman sites in Italy and France, this variant of Venus seems to have been popular from the beginning of its creation. Several examples of the squatting Venus in prominent collections have influenced modern sculptors since Giambologna and have been drawn by artists as early as Martin Heemskerck, who made a drawing of the Farnese squatting Venus now in Naples. The model is often related to a corrupt passage in Pliny the Elder's Natural History, which lists sculptures in the Temple of Jupiter Stator in the Portico of Octavia, near the Roman Forum; the text has been modified to mention Venerem lavantem sese Daedalsas, stantem Polycharmus ("Venus washing, by Daedalsas, and standing, by Polycharmus"), recording a sculpture of a Venus that was not standing. These brief archival references and so many extant ancient versions make the archival identification of the Roman copies uncertain. Formally it is an image of great beauty, grace and elegance, based on the Greco-Latin sculptural canon. However, although the facial features follow ancient models, the soft and delicate modelling reveals a distinctly modern aesthetic. The high quality of the chiselling is also noteworthy, with fluid, delicate forms, organising the composition by means of subtle curves and counter-curves. The detail has also been worked with great refinement, without ever forgetting the classical reference point. Numerous versions of the goddess were produced in Hellenistic environments at different times during her asceticism, inspiring the following centuries, specifically marble statuary and Roman bronze statuettes such as the one we are dealing with here.