A Lifesize White Marble Bust of the Capuan Venus After The Antique

Description

A Lifesize White Marble Bust of the Capuan Venus By Gaetano Rossi After The Antique, On Pedestal.

Signed and dated ‘G.NO Rossi, 1876’.
On a green scagliola and marble pedestal.

Italy, Dated 1876.

Discovered in the late 18th century in the amphitheatre of ancient Capua, near Naples, the Capuan Venus is a 2nd century Roman copy of an earlier Greek original from the 4th century BCE, possibly associated with the famed sculptor Praxiteles or his followers.

The Capuan Venus, marble. Roman, A.D. 117–138; found in Capua, Italy (National Archaeological Museum of Naples).

It was unearthed missing its arms and it was speculated that she originally held a shield of the warrior god Ares (Mars), at which the goddess looked as if it were a mirror. The full-length statue is preserved in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples with arms restored in the 1820s.

An important discovery, the Capuan Venus was internationally famous and a must see for Grand Tourists visiting Naples, the wealthier among them commissioned replicas such as this bust by Gaetano Rossi, a native Neapolitan sculptor.

The absence of arms was thought to preserve the authenticity of the original and made the Capuan Venus well suited for truncated replication as a bust. The pose is powerful because of the turn of the head and downward gaze which directly engages the viewer, who in turn can looks up at Venus’ legendary majesty.

Unlike replicas produced by other marble studios in Rome or Florence, Rossi clearly benefited from seeing the original firsthand, for he captures superbly Venus’ striking beauty with almond-shaped eyes and well-drawn lips.