15929994420001312637261000Standard Recordobject-31066170206273749116599460140001702062268409fitz-onlineadlib-object-31066https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/3106665236e8b-5709-3627-80a5-87026b82842010personreferenceagent-139324adlib-agent-139324412c46d0-b7b7-3980-8ca2-6c1babc8909aVenusreferenceterm-98228adlib-term-982283d747999-296f-3944-9a84-2936c3ae9f5csculpturereferenceterm-1111adlib-term-111146c949dd-f376-3538-878f-397baee5be09mythologyApplied ArtsWhite marble. Venus stands with her head slightly turned to the left, her hair is dressed in Hellenic fashion, and her left knee forward. Over her left wrist is a mantle, and she holds the apple awarded by Paris. On the base, on the viewer's right, there is a tortoise.M.4-19751accession numberM.4-197531066priref31066external IDCAM_CCF_M_4_1975202020202020-02-11Online 3D model2f551fe5aa6346878834805787d1dbdfurihttps://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/31066https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/31066on tortoiseincisedOPVS IOAN IS GIBSON ROMÆsignaturereferenceagent-149638adlib-agent-1496387376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8The Fitzwilliam MuseumGiven by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museumreferenceagent-149645adlib-agent-14964510925b71-6838-30f7-a8dd-b68a2afaa14dThe Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum197519751975-01-30givenEntry date: 1975-01-3018331833CE1833circa1833183811838CE1838circa1838sculptorreferenceagent-51843adlib-agent-51843fc68a18c-dcd1-3f34-b2b9-6fbc118ccc27Gibson, Johncommissionedreferenceagent-98016adlib-agent-98016e787a799-07da-3960-ab2f-959ef2e2ef13Neeld, JosephGibson recorded how the wealthy MP Joseph Neeld (1789–1856) had visited his studio in Rome several times before asking him to carve a ‘Venus, nude, but with some drapery modestly arranged without sacrificing too much of the form’. Inspired by Classical prototypes, Gibson showed the Roman goddess of love as an idealised female nude with elegant curves and soft modelling, holding the golden apple, awarded by Paris for her beauty. Although apples are often associated with carnal love, Gibson called his statue 'Venus Verticordia', or ‘the turner of men's hearts’ and later recalled how he had ‘endeavoured to give my Venus that spiritual elevation of character which results from purity and sweetness’. The Romans venerated Venus Verticordia on 1 April as a goddess of chastity. This accounts for the tortoise under her foot: since ancient times, the docile creature who keeps silent and never leaves its house had been a symbol of ‘ideal’ female domesticity. Phidias’ famous lost mid-5th-century BCE ivory and gold statue of Aphrodite at Elis (Greece) rested one foot on a tortoise, and this became a standard way for artists to show the chaste side of the love goddess’ complex character.This sculpture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1839 (no. 1303). Gibson’s composition was so popular that he produced several other versions, including the highly controversial Tinted Venus for the International Exhibition of 1862 (now Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), which he brightly painted to imitate the original appearance of many ancient statues.referenceterm-109672adlib-term-109672a788e98b-c8a4-313c-9617-1a812228e86419th Century, Mid#referenceterm-106366adlib-term-106366b3c6d1ca-fe9f-38c0-bdd4-f8d83ac87a8fliteralEnglandEnglandcountryRomereferenceterm-37963adlib-term-37963929f6c25-5677-3624-90d4-f6d882da98ecwhite marbleHeightcm174referencemedia-206464adlib-media-20646490f0e7f4-9fa2-354a-82d8-f146d2a1c675jpegaa/aa37/M_4_1975_1_201503_mfj22_dc2.jpg1heightpixels1025widthpixels65716162665961731imagejpegaa/aa37/mid_M_4_1975_1_201503_mfj22_dc2.jpg1heightpixels780widthpixels50016162665961731imagejpegaa/aa37/M_4_1975_1_201503_mfj22_dc2.jpg1heightpixels1025widthpixels65716162665961731imagejpegaa/aa37/preview_M_4_1975_1_201503_mfj22_dc2.jpg1heightpixels390widthpixels25016162665961731image0media
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imagereferenceterm-107454adlib-term-1074546ca0f2ab-c1f8-329d-8a45-8f1322f53a20figurehistory noteJoseph Neeld; Captain L.W. Neeld; Mrs J. Bourne (née Celia Kathleen Mary Neeld); Christie's, 22 September, 1966, Catalogue of The Grittleton Marbles...p. 14, lot 14; sold to Perkins (600 guineas).referenceagent-149638adlib-agent-1496387376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8The Fitzwilliam Museumreference numberliteralnameSculpture UKSculpture UKPubl. p. 14, lot 14, illustrated pl. IV14referencepublication-5814adlib-publication-5814fe41ef1a-bcd7-3f2d-bb7d-9bab1fffb151The Grittleton Marbles. The Property of Mrs J. Bourne (Née Miss Celia Kathleen Mary Neeld). Formerly the Collection of the late Captain L. W. Neeld of Kelston Park and GrittletonPubl. Illustrated, pl. 1, and see p. 16 where it is said to be an original version made for Joseph Neeld. See xerox of Sale Catalogue in Object's file confirming this.p. 16referencepublication-185adlib-publication-185b17f67ef-8f48-3e99-a10e-4962f5cd2a80Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The Annual Reports of the Syndicate and of the Friends of the Fitzwilliam for the Year ending 31 December 1975referencepublication-5815adlib-publication-5815adc0f95f-4ad4-317a-a13b-0d4af6ed8784The biography of John Gibson, R.A., sculptor, RomeRef. vol. III, London, 1905, p. 230. Venus Verticordia. Exhibited 1839, no. 1303.p. 230referencepublication-2345adlib-publication-2345987ddb4c-94ef-3c86-8c60-61f2ca40b50fThe Royal Academy of Arts, A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their Works from its Foundation in 1769 to 1904referencepublication-2461adlib-publication-2461c18a0230-400e-3178-9fbd-003e2f76b27bChristie's Sale Catalogue, 15th December 1982referencepublication-2462adlib-publication-24622f16f7f5-3ac4-3747-bad1-2d567df4dbcfNineteenth Century European Paintings, Drawings and Sculpturereferencepublication-8894adlib-publication-8894bf49d25b-e9e8-3b59-bab8-0b813276b802BC/AD Sculpture Ancient to Modernreferenceterm-9044adlib-term-904499dcb503-1a64-3792-8a40-48eda95dd763Neoclassicalplantreferenceterm-35269adlib-term-35269b4b554bd-f785-34d4-9202-d8a3d4164fdbappleliteralappleapplereferenceterm-107454adlib-term-1074546ca0f2ab-c1f8-329d-8a45-8f1322f53a20figurefigurewhite marble, carved in the roundreferenceterm-98865adlib-term-98865aeb90103-2708-3cdf-abc1-219c45a070e9carvingVenus Verticordiaobject
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