Silver statuette of Venus

Roman

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 168

The Roman goddess Venus was early assimilated to the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. Her cult remained very popular throughout the Roman period, and many votive bronze statuettes have survived. Examples in silver, however, are rare, and this is an unusually large one, modeled on Hellenistic prototypes. Venus holds an apple in her left hand, a reference to her victory in the legendary beauty contest with Juno (Hera) and Minerva (Athena) that was judged by Paris, son of King Priam of Troy.

Silver statuette of Venus, Silver, Roman

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.