COMPARE & CONTRAST – Mother Earth, Fertility, Love and More?

ESSAY #1c

COMPARE & CONTRAST – Mother Earth, Fertility, Love and More? ­:

http://www.upperplayground.com/3rassiere/naked-lunch-venus-di-milo-artist-unknown-alexandros-of-antioch-c-130-100-b-c Ven

us de Milo (Louvre Museum,Milos) –Alexandros Antioch

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/prehistoricart/ Venus of Willendorf- Unkown artist

QUESTION: Describe the functional purpose of the Venus of Willendorf and the Venus De Milo. How is their imagery similar? How is it different? Find a third Venus example to compare and contrast these two to and describe why you selected it.

Part one:

Summary: what I experienced after I answered this topic question is understanding that even though each statue is representing beauty it is the type of beauty that makes them different and yet the same.

Reason: The reason for this question is to explore the different type of art sculpture so I could understand the meaning of each statue represent .

Purpose: I believe the Purpose Mr.Fortier asking this question was to help us as students understand that even though they are both named after the goddess of love and beauty each of them had there own meaning of the word beauty.

Direction: answering this topic question will hopefully make me understand what the meaning of the statues and why it was made to look this way.

Impression: I believe the most I received during this essay is understanding why these two different statues were made to look this way and why it is still consider beautiful.

Part Two:

Answer: Looking at both Venus of Willendorf and the Venud De Milo I believe there functional purpose is to show the inner beauty of women in general. There are many similarities between the two statues not only by sight but by inner meaning. I was able to see similarities between the two statues by the way it was portrayed. For example neither statue has arms or hands, and both are naked. I believe both Alexandros of Antioch and the unknown artist were trying to portray the beauty of the woman’s body. Both statues are seen with bare breast and broad hips, explaining how a female body is in reality then in paintings. Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe explains in the last paragraph of Venus of Willendorf under the column Discovery “she became the "first woman," acquiring a sort of Ur-Ev The difference between both of these statues is each represent outer beauty for entirely different reasons. Venus De Milo is represented for youth. While many researchers believe the Venus of Willendor represent a woman during pregnancy. Venus de Milo and the Venus of Willendor both were created in different time periods, Venus de Milo was thought to be created in 130 to 100 BC in Greece while the Venus of Willendor was said to be created and founded in Austria in 24,000-22,000 B.C.E. “the people who made the statues lived in very cold and harsh ice-age environment, with fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable among the people." (http://www.pbs.org/howartmadetheworld/episodes/human/venus/)e identity that focused suitably, from a patriarchal point of view, on the fascinating reality of the female body” (http://arthistoryresources.net/willendorf/willendorfdiscovery.html) . Both statues are missing their arms and hands; Marilyn Stokstad and Micheal W.Cothren both explains that the missing arms might actually have been Aphrodite holding an apple with her right hand. (Art History fourth edition volume one, Marilyn Stokstad Micheal W.Cothren,157) Not much information is said if the figurine of Venus of Willendorf is missing her hands on purpose but it is possible she might have been missing her hands and arms and she was meant to be holding her stomach or her breast.

Venus De Milo and Venus of Willendor are both made by entirely different stones. Reading from the text book the Venus of Willendor is made from limestone which is a completely different stone compare to the Venus De Milo which is made of seven blocks of Parian Marble.(Art History fourth edition volume one, Marilyn Stokstad Micheal W.Cothren,6) another difference is the meaning of each statue, even though I believe both represent beauty the Venus of Willendor was thought to represent health and fertility which in the textbook explains “the artist may have been expressing health and fertility, which could ensure the ability to produce strong children thus guaranteeing the survival of the clan” (Art History fourth edition volume one, Marilyn Stokstad Micheal W.Cothren,6.) Many believe with the way Venus De Milo position it might have been meant for erotic tension. But the twisting stance and the strong projection of the knee and typical Hellenistic art, as is the rich three dimensionality of the drapery. The juxtaposition of soft flesh crisp drapery, seemingly in the process of slipping off the figure, adds a note of erotic tension. (Art History fourth edition volume one, Marilyn Stokstad Micheal W.Cothren,157) even though both the statues share the same meaning of beauty, both of them are meant to be seen differently when it comes to anatomy .

http://arkahdiaarts.com/Lady-Pauline-Statue_ST1_017530.asp Venus Victrix (Canova)- Antonio Canova

for my third statue I choose Venus Victrix because just as the rest of the other statues Venus Victrix holds deep meaning not just about Aphrodite but also women themselves. Venus Victrix was sculpted by Antonio Canova. A large difference between these statues is Venus Victrix was modeled by Pauline Bonaparte the duchess of Guastalla. at the image I have placed you can see Pauline holding an apple; Pauline is representing Aphrodite’s victory in the judgment of Paris. A difference for each of the statues is that they each show their own inner beauty. The similarity is each represents the beauty of Aphrodite love, beauty, sex and fertility but also the same beauty for themselves.