AFTER THE ANTIQUE, A 19TH CENTURY ITALIAN CARVED WHITE MARBL...

AFTER THE ANTIQUE, A 19TH CENTURY ITALIAN CARVED WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF THE CROUCHING VENUS
Typically carved, with an amphora, on a canted rectangular base

(h 86cm overall, base 49.5cm x 32.5cm)

N.B. the figure of the Crouching Venus originates from a Hellenistic model in the 3rd BC, believed to be a copy of a statue by Doidalsas of Bythania, which was produced multiple times during the Roman period. Variants of Venus in this pose are held at the Uffizi, Florence, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, at the Louvre in Paris and within the Royal Collection, to name but a few. The figure itself is thought to represent Venus emerging from her bath, or to be a symbolic rendering of the Goddess after birth. She continued to strike a popular pose during the 19th century, when young Grand Tourists took to Italy to explore classical architecture, sculpture and art. Their demands for good quality copies of pieces such as the Crouching Venus led to even further variants being produced during the 1800s, which were then returned to Britain to decorate grand homes