The Troubling Aspects of the Capitoline Venus
What Precisely Is On Display With This Most Famous of Ancient Statues?
Gazing up at the Capitoline Venus for the first time, my body was flooded with emotions: sadness, excitement, and confusion. As I stood in the rotunda, staring at naked Venus, I became lost in deep thought. I struggled and grappled with the different dimensions and implications of the statue. After reflecting for a few moments, the Capitoline Venus, a statue often discussed in reference to its beauty, was troubling to me.
Standing on a platform about three feet high, the statue depicts the Roman goddess Venus (Aphrodite in the Greek tradition) naked in a bathing context. The Capitoline Venus is derived from Aphrodite of Cnidus, a statue made by the fourth century BCE Greek sculptor Praxiteles. This work of his is known as the first full scale nude Greek female statue. However, the Capitoline Venus has some differences from the original statue by Praxiteles. The Cnidian Aphrodite uses one hand to cover her genitals, whereas the Capitoline Venus uses one hand to cover her genitals and her other hand to cover her breasts — this pose is called Venus Pudica (modest Venus). The Greek original was destroyed in the 475 CE in a fire in Constantinople. However, many scholars think that the Vatican’s Colonna Venus is the closest to the original. There are over fifty replicas of the Capitoline Venus, and it is believed that the Capitoline Venus is the first of its kind. The numerous copies indicate that this statue was very popular in ancient times.
The Capitoline Venus dates to the second century CE. It is made of marble and is about six and a half feet tall. The statue was found between 1666 and 1670 in Rome near the Basilica of San Vitale. In 1752 Benedict XIV purchased the statue of Venus and donated it to the Capitoline Museums. But in 1797, after invading northern Italy, Napoleon took the statue to France where he ordered it to be carried in a triumphal march into Paris. The year following Napoleon’s fall from power, the statue was returned to the Capitoline.
In his work the Naturalis Historia, Pliny the Elder (23 CE-79 CE) discusses the Aphrodite of Cnidus. Pliny writes that Praxiteles put up for sale two equally priced statues of Aphrodite: one was clothed and the other was not. The people of Cos prefered the clothed Aphrodite because they believed it was more modest and appropriate. Thus, the Cnidians purchased the rejected statue. Immediately the Cnidian Aphrodite was a hit. Pliny writes,
“Praxitelis… qui marmorea gloria superavit etiam semet. opera eius sunt Athenis in Ceramico, sed ante omnia est non solum Praxitelis, verum in toto orbe terrarum Venus, quam ut viderent, multi navigaverunt Cnidum” [Praxiteles… who in marble glory even surpassed himself. His works are in the Ceramicus in Athens, but before all (the statues) not only of Praxiteles but also of (all the sculptors) in the whole world is (Praxiteles’) Venus, which in order to see, many have sailed to Cnidus] (Naturalis Historia, 36:4).
While describing Praxiteles’ impressive talent, Pliny claims that the Cnidian Aphrodite was superior to all other statues and a popular thing to see. But Pliny does not explain what made it the best the statue in the world. Its craftsmanship? Its narrative? Its uniqueness?
Notably the presentation of the Capitoline Venus is similar to the original display of Praxiteles’ Aphrodite in Cnidus. The Capitoline Venus statue stands in a specially designed rotunda so that visitors can view the statue from all sides. Describing the display of the original statue, Pliny writes, “aedicula eius tot aperitur, ut conspici possit undique effigies deae, favente ipsa, ut creditur, facta” (her little temple is open on all sides, so that the statue of the goddess is able to be seen from every side, which she herself favored it is believed) (Naturalis Historia, 36:4).
Pliny’s writing indicates that it was not simply the ancient viewer who wanted to behold Aphrodite’s body from all angles, but Aphrodite herself wanted to be seen that way. Are we to assume that this is because she is the goddess of love? In Greek literature, bad things happened to people who saw goddesses naked and without their consent. For instance Teiresias is made blind after he sees Athena bathing, and Actaeon is killed for seeing Artemis during her bath. Is it because Venus is a non-virgin goddess, whereas Athena and Artemis are virgin goddesses, that we unharmed are permitted to gawk at her naked, bathed body?
As for the Capitoline Venus, we are invited to be voyeurs and goggle at naked Venus as she attempts to cover her breasts and genitals with her hands. Her turned neck, hunched shoulders, and twisted body indicate that Venus is attempting to shield her nakedness from spectators. Venus has been intruded upon. Unexpected, uninvited visitors are in her space. Her body’s posture conveys a sense of vulnerability and powerlessness while her entire undressed body is on display.
Pliny’s text provides us with information on the sexual desire that the original naked statue of Venus provoked from people. He recounts a story in which a man had sex with the statue. Pliny writes, “ferunt amore captum quendam, cum delituisset noctu, simulacro cohaesisse, eiusque cupiditatis esse indicem maculam” (They say that a certain someone, seized by love, when he had hidden himself in the night, he pressed his body on the statue and the proof of his lust is a stain (on the statue) (Naturalis Historia, 36:4). Clearly the statue was erotic to this man. Pliny explicitly identifies the statue of Venus with sexual desire. The details of the man being cloaked in the night imply that what he was doing was indecent. But I wonder what Pliny the Elder is trying to achieve by retelling this story. Does he want readers to understand how realistic and thus sexually arousing the statue was? I think that this anecdote implies that the statue was for the sexual pleasure of the viewer. Venus’ body is being objectified.
It is both powerful and valuable to study the statue through the lens of a quotation by the American actress Anne Hathaway. During an interview with Matt Lauer, Hathaway, responding to an ignorant question by Lauer about a personal incident that happened to her, said,
“… I was very sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment, and rather than delete it, and do the decent thing, sells it. And I’m sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies the sexuality of unwilling participants” (Today Show, 12/12/2012).
Hathaway’s reflection can be applied to the Capitoline Venus. It is sad that we live in a world in which someone makes a statue of someone in a vulnerable moment, and the statue becomes venerated for its sexiness and encourages voyeurism. It is sad that we live in a world that commodifies the sexuality of unwilling participants. The Capitoline’s Venus is being presented naked and without her consent. From studying the statue, even briefly we can notice that she does not want to be seen.
Rebecca Williams is a Paideia Rome Fellow.
