Roman matron as Venus Pudica, Venice? 16th-17th century

This fascinating and rare bronze, depicts a Roman matron posed as Venus Pudica, with one hand on her breast and one on pubis. Among several examples of Venus Pudica inherited from classical antiquity, one of the best known, and much replicated from the earliest times, is the Medici Venus, a Hellenistic marble preserved in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Curiously enough, in our bronze Venus’s head resembles perfectly Hadrianic female portraits. The hairstyle with thick curls framed by a diadem suggests that there was a real person represented in the iconography of Venus Pudica.

Female forms relate to archaeological models, with wide hips, small breasts and sensual forms. The parallel can be the Venus preserved in the Giorgio Franchetti Gallery at the Ca' d'Oro, Venice, and the one in the Museo Correr, also Venice. Both look at the first sight as archaeological discoveries, but were made in the Veneto area during the Renaissance. Correr’s one is attributed to Tullio Lombardo.

Other similar examples can be found in the Museo Nazionale in Florence and the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. The model depicted is Venus Anadiomene but the physicality and hairstyle are comparable to our bronze.

The bronze is characterized by the strong materialty of the surface patina that leads it to  resemble an archaeological discovery.