06 April 2014

Voluptuous Venus

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of images of Venus which have survived from ancient times. Many of them are curvaceous, in fact some ancient Roman Venus' are even a little plump, and there are many that are slim, but they are never too skinny, for how could Venus look as if she starves herself when she is a Goddess of life and fertility? Neither have I seen any depictions of Venus as obese. Likewise, for most artists since the renaissance Venus has been celebrated as looking like a woman with a healthy body, neither skeletal nor grotesquely overweight. Here follows a celebration of the many portrayals of Venus over the centuries.

Roman Era Venus'
Fresco of Venus from Pompeii (1st century CE)
Celestial Venus (circa 2nd-3rd century CE), Bronze, 25cm
Mosaic depicting Venus from Tunisia (circa 3rd century CE)