Esquiline Venus

The Esquiline Venus
ArtistAnon.
Yearc. 50 AD
TypeWhite marble
LocationCapitoline Museums[1], Rome

The Esquiline Venus, depicting the goddess Venus (i.e. Greek Aphrodite), is a smaller-than-life-size Roman nude marble sculpture of a female in sandals and a diadem headdress. It is widely viewed as a 1st-century AD Roman copy of a Greek original from the 1st century BC. It is also a possible depiction of the Ptolemaic ruler Cleopatra VII.

The sculpture is thought to have been based on an original Hellenistic statue from the Ptolemaic Kingdom. It possibly depicts Venus-Isis, a syncretism of Venus with the Egyptian goddess Isis. The copy was likely commissioned by emperor Claudius to decorate the Horti Lamiani.[2] The vase depicted next to the female figure includes an asp or uraeus, depictions of the Egyptian cobra.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference roller 2010 p.175 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ For bibliography on this point, see here.
  3. ^ For bibliography on this point, see here.