Crouching Venus

myminifactory

The Crouching Venus is a Hellenistic model of Venus surprised at her bath. The type typically depicts the Goddess crouching with her right knee close to the ground, her head turned to the right and, in mouth versions, reaching her right arm over her left shoulder to cover her breasts. The earliest reference to a sculpture of this type is mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Natural History (xxxvi.4) who describes the "Venus washing herself, of Daedalsas" in the Temple of Jupiter Stator. Because of so many existing ancient versions of the sculpture it is difficult to make accurate archival identifications, though some (like this one) include a water jar and/or an additional figure of Eros, explore these here.  This sculpture is a heavily restored version of an original Crouching Venus housed at The Louvre, Paris (Ma5, SMK cast KAS357). The handprint of Cupid has been removed and her head and arms were added. The work loosely derives from the Cnidian Aphrodite by Praxiteles. Image source Wikipedia.   If you produce new work with the model and want to share it with us, drop us a line at web@smk.dk or stw@myminifactory.com. This scan was produced in collaboration between The Statens Museum for Kunst and Scan the World for the SMK-Open project. Every model produced from this initiative is available under an open source license. Scanner - Artec Eva