Detail of a Terracotta Statuette of Aphrodite and Eros in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, June 2018

Aphrodite and Eros (Primary Title)

Unknown (Artist)

Date: ca. 120 BC

Culture: Greek (Myrina)

Category: Sculpture

Medium: terracotta, traces of pigment

Collection: Ancient Art

Dimensions: Overall: 13 3/4 × 6 3/8 × 3 3/4 in. (34.93 × 16.19 × 9.53 cm)

Object Number: 83.64

Prior to the Hellenistic period, females (unlike males) were rarely depicted nude. Like many of the early images of nude women, this statuette shows Aphrodite, in this case seminude. Here, the goddess of love gazes into a mirror as she adjusts her hair, and her son, Eros, holds a cosmetic box. Such complicated terracottas were made from molds; the cast pieces were assembled and painted with the bright colors used to ornament stone and terracotta statues in antiquity.

Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-107883854