Venus Of Willendorf Essay

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Venus of Willendorf, Paleolithic Period, c. 24,000-22,000 B.C.E. Limestone painted with red ochre, 11.1 cm tall. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna The Venus of Willendorf is the most well known sculpture mobiliary art of the Paleolithic period. It was discovered in 1908 outside the small Austrian village of Willendorf by josef Szombathy, an Austro-Hungarian archaeologist. It is named after the Roman goddess of love, Venus, and since it was discovered in Willendorf, it came to be known as Venus of Willendorf. The artifact is made of limestone, which according to Mineralszone.com is vulnerable to acid and can wear away details in statues and other arts. Despite this susceptibility, the mobiliary art has conserved its red ochre paint …show more content…
The artist that created the artifact took great care to specifically emphasize the woman 's breasts seeing that the hands of the women guide the the eyes to the breasts but lack detail to keep the focus on them. It is believed that it large thighs and midsection signify that the woman is ready to give birth to a child, while the breasts could signify that the women could nurture the child. The lack of detail of the face has been the cause of several speculations to be created for its meaning, including that it could be a woven hat. The lack of the detail on the lower part of the body and its petite size, suggests that the artifact was meant to be held and not placed on a surface for …show more content…
This famous monument has been the center for many inquiries throughout the years. The most commonly asked questions revolve around, “How did the Neolithic people build the monumental landmark with the limited technology that was present at that time?” Stonehenge’s stones are sarsen stones, which is a type of sandstone. According to english-heritage.org, the stones used to create this engineering masterpiece of art were brought from the Marlborough Downs, 20 miles away. The lightest of these stones weigh 2 tons, with the heaviest as much as 30 tons. Only careful and calculated planning would be able to successfully create a plan to build this remarkable

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