Venus Anadyomene
Venus Anadyomene (from Greek, "Venus Rising From the Sea") is one of the iconic representations of the goddess Venus (Aphrodite), made famous in a much-admired painting by Apelles, now lost, but described in Pliny's Natural History, with the anecdote that the great Apelles employed Campaspe, a mistress of Alexander the Great, for his model. According to Athenaeus, the idea of Aphrodite rising from the sea was inspired by the courtesan Phryne, who, during the time of the festivals of the Eleusinia and Poseidonia, often swam nude in the sea. A scallop shell, often found in Venus Anadyomenes, is a symbol of the female vulva.
The image of Venus Anadyomene is one of the very few images that survived in Western Europe essentially unchanged from its classical appearance, from Antiquity into the High Middle Ages. Jean Seznec instances two images of Venus among constellations illustrating 14th-century Provençal manuscripts of Matfre Ermengau of Béziers' Breviari d'amor, in which Venus is represented nude in the sea: "This extraordinary conservatism may perhaps be explained by the fact that the culture of the last pagan centuries remained alive longer in Provence than elsewhere."
Venus Anadyomene Stamp Collection
Venus Anadyomene, is a c. 1520 oil painting by Titian, depicting Venus rising from the sea and wringing her hair, after her birth fully-grown. Venus, said to have been born from a shell, is identified by the shell at bottom left. It is smaller than usual in the birth of Venus scenes, such as Botticelli's, and is just intended to identify the subject rather than be a boat-like vessel for Venus, as in Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and other depictions.
Ajman 1971
Cyprus 1982
Fujeira 1972
Bhutan 1989
Guinea Bissau 2008
Guinea Bissau 2008
Paraguay 1974 The Bath of Venus Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) The original painting is currently in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon.
The whole painting
Paraguay 1976
Venus Anadyomene by Ingres began the painting in 1808 during his stay in Rome at the French Academy. The first preparatory drawings showed Venus in the Venus Pudica position, standing and covering her breasts with her hands. The pose was inspired by Botticelli's The Birth of Venus – Ingres visited Florence and the Uffizi in 1805 and could have seen the painting there. A drawing of 1806 then shows the goddess with her arms in the air and her hair in her hands, a pose the artist also used in his 1856 The Source.
The whole painting
Switzerland 2001 Birth of Venus by Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901)
This painting represents the established mythological subject of the newborn Venus rising from the waves. Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin trained as an academic artist, but here provides his own idiosyncratic interpretation of the theme with details such as the comical sea monster (on which Venus is borne aloft) and seaweed-like drapery, carried by flying cupids. Böcklin’s works engaged classical academics but also anticipated the dream-like mood of 20th century Surrealism.
Cuba 1990 Venus Anadyomene by the cuban A. G. Menocal (1863-1942)
Monaco 2009 Birth of Venus, by William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)
Manama 1969 Birth of Venus, by William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)
Greece 1964 The birth of Venus - rises from the sea on scallop shell
GREECE 1993 Small statue of Aphrodite bathing, known as the Rhodes Venus. A later remodelling of a statue type of the 3rd century BCE, whose creation was attributed to the sculptor Doidalses. The Rhodian work is an eloquent example of the decorative disposition in 1st century BCE aesthetics. Little sculptures such as this adorned the interiors of wealthy residences, as well as Nymphaia, private and public gardens.
Cyprus 1982 Aphrodite bathing , a atatue found next to Soli.
Manama 1971 The birth of Venus By Rubens
Cirenaica italy 1934 Venus of Cyrene
Birth of Venus - The whole painting
Cornelis de Vos after Peter Paul Rubens
Tripolitania Italy 1930 Venus of Cyrene
In 1913, Italian soldiers deployed at Cyrene, Libya, found a headless marble sculpture, commonly known today as the “Venus of Cyrene”. it has been characterized as Aphrodite rising from the sea (Anadyomene) In 1915, the statue was shipped to Italy, where it was placed on display in the Museo Nazionale delle Terme of Rome. The Venus was returned to Libya in August 2008, following lengthy negotiations and two court decisions.