Marble statue of Aphrodite

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Roman copy or adaptation of a Greek statue of the 3rd century B.C. known as the Capitoline Aphrodite The Aphrodite of Knidos created by Praxitiles in the fourth century B.C. was the first major nude statue of the goddess. A number of other important works showing her without clothing were created in the following centuries. In this popular statue type, Aphrodite stands with both hands shielding her body in a gesture of modesty.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art