Venus Victrix (Canova)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| (Pauline Bonaparte as) Venus Victrix |
| Canova, 1805-1808 |
| White Marble |
| Rome, Galleria Borghese |
Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, semi-nude reclining neo-Classical portrait sculpture by Canova. Reviving the ancient Roman artistic traditions of portrayals of mortal individuals in the guise of the gods, and of the beautiful female form reclining on a couch (as most often seen in reclining portrayals of Hermaphroditi), it was executed from 1805 to 1808, after the subject's marriage into the Borghese family.
Nude portraits were unusual, subjects of high rank usually having strategically-placed drapery. It is a matter of debate as to whether she actually posed naked for the sculpture, since only the head is a realistic (if slightly idealised) portrait, whilst the nude torso is an neo-classically idealised female form. When asked how she could pose for the sculptor wearing so little, she reputedly replied that there was a stove in the studio that kept her warm, though this may be apochryphal or a quip deliberately designed by her to stir up scandal.
She holds an apple in her hand evoking Aphrodite's victory in the judgement of Paris (in that contest the goddess had won an apple entitled 'for the fairest'). The room in which the sculpture is exhibited at the Galleria Borghese also has a ceiling painting portraying the judgement, painted by Domenico de Angelis in 1779 and inspired by a famous relief on the façade of the Villa Medici.
The wooden base, draped like a catafalque, once contained a mechanism that caused the sculpture to rotate, as in the case of other works by Canova. The roles of artwork and spectator were thus reversed, it was the sculpture that moved whilst the spectator stood still and observed it from all angles. In the past, viewers admired the softly gleaming sculpture of Pauline by candlelight and its lustre was not only due to the fine quality of the marble but also to the waxed surface, which has been recently restored.
