 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Venus Felix" sculpture – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Venus Felix | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Year | 2nd century AD |
| Medium | Sculpture |
41°54′24.50″N 12°27′09.19″E / 41.9068056°N 12.4525528°E / 41.9068056; 12.4525528
The Venus Felix is a sculpture of Venus and her son Cupid which dates back to the 2nd-century AD. It was dedicated by Sallustia and Helpidus to Venus Felix. Its head resembles Faustina the Younger. It is now held at the Pius-Clementine museum of the Vatican Museums, Rome, and is displayed in the Octagon of the Hermes Hall.
Description
The Venus Felix statue is not a copy but is reminiscent of the great masterpiece, Aphrodite of Cnidus by Praxiteles made in the 4th-century BCE. The statue has a distinctive description on its base which indicates its votive purpose.
The description is thought to attest the statue is dedicated to Venus Felix by Sallustia, a matron whose portrait can be traced back to the 2nd-century AD, and by Helpidus in all likelihood, who stands next to her in the guise of Eros as he hands her an object which could be a mirror.
References
- Bertoldi, Susanna (2010). The Vatican Museums. Sillabe. ISBN 978-88-8271-210-5.
 | This article about a sculpture in the Vatican City is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |