A Greek marble torso of Aphrodite
Hellenistic Period, circa 2nd-1st Century B.C.
The goddess depicted nude, slightly twisted and bending forward, with weight on her right leg, her left leg raised to remove her sandal, 20cm high注脚Provenance:
Private collection, Buffalo, NY, acquired in 1975 from a Boston dealer.
with Rupert Wace Ancient Art Limited, London.
Private collection, UK, acquired from the above April 1998.

Aphrodite bending down to remove her sandal prior to bathing was a popular subject throughout the Graeco-Roman world from the Hellenistic period onward. Smith has suggested that the type 'probably evolved as favoured votive figures, without the impetus given by a famous statue' (Hellenistic Sculpture, London, 1991, p. 81); in the Roman period, such small-scale sculpture was likely utilised to adorn domestic spaces.