Crouching Venus

This article discusses the type itself: see links within it for specific instances of the type.

The Lely Venus once belonged to the painter Sir Peter Lely (Royal Collection, on loan to the British Museum

The Crouching Venus is a Hellenistic model of Venus surprised at her bath. Venus crouches with her right knee close to the ground, turns her head to the right and, in most versions, reaches her right arm over to her left shoulder to cover her breasts.[1] To judge by the number of copies that have been excavated on Roman sites in Italy and France, this variant on Venus seems to have been popular.

A number of examples of the Crouching Venus in prominent collections have influenced modern sculptors since Giambologna and have been drawn by artists since Martin Heemskerck, who made a drawing of the Farnese Crouching Venus that is now in Naples.

  1. ^ Some of the many copies have significant variants in the upper body and the position of the arms.