Artist Unknown

Venus

  • 1st Century AD-2nd Century AD
  • bronze
  • Rome/Italy
  • Purchased, 1972
  • 153 x 77 x 33mm
  • 72/140

Debate exists around which ancient Roman goddess this tiny bronze statuette portrays. Two near-identical versions are known, holding small rolls of bread, and are said to represent Juno, goddess of marriage, childbirth and women. Their uncovered shoulders and knotted garments, however, make it more likely that they depict Venus, goddess of love, beauty and fertility.

(Out of Time, 23 September 2023 – 28 April 2024)

Exhibition History

earlier labels about this work
  • As Time Unfolds, 5 December 2020 – 7 March 2021

    Juno was a popular Roman goddess, the protector of marriage and childbirth. She was also high-status and well-connected, being the daughter of Saturn (god of agriculture and the harvest), married to Jupiter (king of the gods, deity of sky and thunder) and the mother of gods including Mars (the god of war and destruction). All of these gods had planets named after them; Juno’s name went instead to the month of June, considered the best time of year to marry in ancient Rome. This statuette was earlier thought to represent Venus, the Roman goddess of love (or Aphrodite in ancient Greece), but two near-identical versions have been identified as Juno – one in a museum in Baltimore, USA; the other in a private UK collection. Both still have their hands, which hold oval objects that look like tiny rolls of bread.

  • Juno was a popular Roman goddess, the protector of marriage and childbirth. She was also high-status and well-connected, being the daughter of Saturn (god of agriculture and the harvest), married to Jupiter (king of the gods, deity of sky and thunder) and the mother of gods including Mars (the god of war and destruction). All of these gods had planets named after them; Juno’s name went instead to the month of June, considered the best time of year to marry in ancient Rome.

    This statuette was earlier thought to represent Venus, the Roman goddess of love (or Aphrodite in ancient Greece), but two near-identical versions have been identified as Juno – one in a museum in Baltimore, USA; the other in a private UK collection. Both still have their hands, which hold oval objects that look like tiny rolls of bread.

    (Label date unknown)