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The Aphrodite of Knidos was one of the most famous works of the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles of Athens (4th century BC). It and its copies are often referred to as the ''Venus Pudica'' ("modest Venus") type, on account of her covering her naked pubis with her right hand. Variants of the ''Venus Pudica'' (suggesting an action to cover the breasts) are the Venus de' Medici or the Capitoline Venus. ==Original== The statue became famous for its beauty, meant to be appreciated from every angle, and for being the first life-size representation of the nude female form. It depicted the goddess Aphrodite as she prepared for the ritual bath that restored her purity (not virginity), discarding her drapery in her left hand, while modestly shielding herself with her right hand. Her hands are placed in a motion that simultaneously shields her womanhood and draws attention to her nudity. Aphrodite's body bends in a contrapposto position, an artistic innovation which realistically portrays normal human stance. According to a possibly apocryphal account by Pliny, Praxiteles received a commission from the citizens of Kos for a statue of the goddess Aphrodite. Praxiteles then created two versions—one fully draped, and the other completely nude. The shocked citizens of Kos rejected the nude statue and purchased the draped version. The design and appearance of the draped version is today unknown as it didn't survive, nor did it appear to have merited attention, to judge from the lack of surviving accounts. The rejected nude was purchased by some citizens of Knidos and set up in an open air temple that permitted viewing of the statue from all sides. It quickly became one of the most famous works by Praxiteles for the bold depiction of Aphrodite as proudly nude... Praxiteles was alleged to have used the courtesan Phryne as a model for the statue, which added to the gossip surrounding its origin. The statue became so widely known and copied that in a humorous anecdote the goddess Aphrodite herself came to Knidos to see it. A lyric epigram of Antipater of Sidon〔Antipater, Greek Anthology XVI.168 (author of this poem is listed as anonymous in the Loeb edition (The Greek Anthology Vol. V., p. 257). )〕 places a hypothetical question on the lips of the goddess herself:
The statue became a tourist attraction in spite of being a cult image, and a patron of the Knidians. Nicomedes I of Bithynia offered to pay off the enormous debts of the city of Knidos in exchange for the statue, but the Knidians rejected his offer. The statue was so lifelike that it even aroused men sexually, as witnessed by the tradition that a young man broke into the temple at night and attempted to copulate with the statue. Apparently a stain in the marble on the rear of the thigh convinced him the statue was a real woman. This story is recorded in the dialogue ''Erotes'' (section 15), traditionally misattributed to Lucian of Samosata.〔See also the Hellenistic story of Pygmalion.〕 The same dialogue also offers the fullest literary description of the ''temenos'' of Aphrodite at Knidos:
Of the Aphrodite herself, the narrator resorts to hyperbole:
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Aphrodite of Cnidus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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