Venus

after Antonio Canova

National Gallery of Art

A nearly nude woman is carved from cream-white marble in this freestanding sculpture. In this photograph, her body faces us, and she looks to our right in profile. She has a sloping forehead and straight nose, full, closed lips, and a rounded chin. Her curly hair is pulled back but ringlets fall down the back of her neck, and tendrils curl alongside her ears. She holds her left arm, to our right, across her torso so that hand brushes her right breast. She holds drapery to her groin with the other hand, and the cloth puddles behind her feet. She steps slightly forward onto her right leg but her knees are together so the toes of her left foot brush the round, disk-like base on which she stands. The background fades from nickel gray across the top to fog gray along the bottom.