The Capitoline Venus Statue Analysis

When Mark Twain saw the Capitoline Venus it ““prompted him to write a short story, “The Capitoline Venus,” in which he described the statue as the “most illustrious work of ancient art the world can boast of”” and when you look upon the Capitoline Venus it would be very hard to argue. (The Capitoline Venus) The Capitoline Venus and the Esquiline Venus are to statues that depict the Roman goddess of love. Though they are of the same subject they are depicted in too very different ways. The statues are of the same material and around the same size but they portray Venus in to very different poses. The two statues have a lot in common but at the same time it is very clear that they are two very different works.

The Capitoline Venus is a marble …show more content…
Though statue is nude but the way it is posed suggest modesty. Venus is trying to cover herself; one arm is almost covering her breasts while the other is covering her pubic area. The way the arms are not completely covering her gives the elution of movement. It makes the eyes focus more on her body then any other feature. The hair on the sculpture is rather detailed in comparison to parts of the face. The hairstyle is complex both up and down it makes it look like a very hurried hairstyle or one done with little care. The way the hair is textured in to fat sections that are slightly wavy give an allusion of the hair being heavy, thick, and wet. The top of the hair is up in what looks like a bow shape while the back of the hair is in a ponytail. This all just seems like a style to keep the hair out of the face and from becoming tangled like she has just come out of water maybe a bath or the sea but seeing the vase and towel by her side a bath is more likely. The vase and towel on her side seem somewhat out of place but I am guessing that they are there to give the statue more support. The towel is very nice to look at it is simple but still looks very real. It also helps to give a hint to where Venus may