Aphrodite Life-Marble Figure Analysis

This life-size marble figure of Aphrodite in a contrapposto position stands on a black cube, and is about four feet tall. The figure is clearly a Greek-inspired nude female as you can see her smooth feminine features and the accentuated attention the was given to detail. Despite originating from Rome, the style of this piece was taken from the late Hellenistic Greek period as it replicates the work of sculpture Praxiteles from fourth century B.C. Observing the piece, one of the first things noticed is Aphrodite’s position. She is leaning right, with the weight bearing on the right leg. The left leg leans slightly against the right, knee bent. The contrapposto position is also analyzed from the rear as one can see the detail of where the muscles sit on the figures upper back. Also viewed via the

The head, arms, and legs, have all broken off the piece (a reason this life size figure is so short) If one looks closely, most of the breaks are at an angle. The head breaks off just above the shoulder blades. It is an uneven break as the right side has slightly more remaining than the left. Moving down, the two arms have a similar breakage. Each arm is broken angling slightly backwards. On the left arm there is a chunk on the back just below the armband that broke off too. Lastly, the lower half of the legs are absent. These two pieces broke of quite differently. Due to the bend in the left knee, the breakage falls below the bend. In the right leg, the knee is missing completely as there seems to have been no intended bend. On the left leg, there are also pieces missing from the out sides of the legs. On the left there is a moderately sized piece missing a little above the knee. On the right there is a gigantic chunk missing starting from the thigh going all the way up to the stomach. These missing pieces detach from the realism that was intended for the