The Venus de 'Medici is an original Hellenistic Greek statue in marble, datable to the end of the 1st century BC, and preserved in the Tribuna of the Uffizi Gallery. The statue, a modest Venus, is inspired, like the other variants of the theme, by Praxiteles' Aphrodite cnidia, with particular similarities with the Capitoline Venus. The work arrived in Rome at an unspecified time in antiquity and perhaps decorated Villa Adriana in Tivoli. In the Renaissance, with the collecting fever of the great families present in the city, it was probably bought by the then Cardinal Ferdinando de 'Medici to be exhibited in Villa Medici, even if the first certain documentation dates back to 1638. In 1677 it was brought to Florence by Cosimo III, who despite his reputation as a "bigot", did not hesitate to place the beautiful naked goddess in the Tribuna of the Uffizi. The work portrays Venus in the bathroom, in the modest position. Evident is the careful search for a naturalistic and idealized rendering of the naked female body, which at the time had overshadowed the sacral meanings linked to the figure of the goddess in previous representations.
To request info for this item please use the following form
