Marble statuette of Aphrodite Anadyomene (rising)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this graceful pose, Aphrodite was represented with both arms raised, wringing water from her hair, as though she were just emerging from the sea, where she was born. Sometimes thought to derive from a famous painting, statues with this graceful motif were extremely popular. Here, a narrow band is carved in relief on either shoulder, perhaps to indicate a fillet with which the goddess binds up her locks.

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