
by Praxiteles, -350
Praxiteles created the Aphrodite of Knidos around 350 BCE, and it became the most famous sculpture in the ancient world. It was the first life-size female nude in Greek art. The original stood in an open temple on the island of Knidos (modern Turkey), where visitors traveled from across the Mediterranean to see it.
The original is lost. Over 50 Roman copies survive in varying quality. The best-known include the Colonna Venus (Vatican Museums) and copies in Munich and the Louvre. Pliny the Elder wrote that a man once broke into the temple at night, so overcome by the statue's beauty. The influence of this single sculpture on Western art is hard to overstate.
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
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