ITEM: Statuette fragment, Venus Anadyomene MATERIAL: Bronze CULTURE: Roman PERIOD: 1st - 3rd Century A.D DIMENSIONS: 45 mm x 46 mm CONDITION: Good condition PROVENANCE: Ex European private collection, Ex ALARA S.P.R.L (1976), Ex F.K. collection, 1972 - 1976 Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and European Union export license If you bid outside the European Union and win the item, we will have to apply for an export licence for your country and shipping will take 3 to 5 weeks. The Venus Anadyomene, a title derived from the Greek word for "rising from the sea," is one of the most iconic and enduring representations of the goddess of love in Roman art. This specific iconographic type depicts Venus at the moment of her birth, emerging from the ocean waves as a fully grown woman. The most recognizable gesture associated with this form is the goddess raising both arms to wring seafoam and water from her long, flowing tresses. While the motif originated in a famous (and now lost) 4th-century BCE painting by the Greek master Apelles, it was the Romans who proliferated the image across the empire, translating the ethereal scene into marble sculpture, bronze statuettes, and vibrant domestic frescoes. In the Roman world, the Venus Anadyomene was more than a celebration of feminine beauty; she was a foundational symbol of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Julius Caesar and his successor Augustus claimed direct descent from the goddess through her son, the Trojan hero Aeneas, effectively making Venus the divine mother of the Roman state. Consequently, the Anadyomene type appeared frequently in public spaces, such as the Temple of Caesar in Rome, and on imperial coinage. By aligning themselves with the goddess of the "rising" sea, the emperors signaled a new era of peace, fertility, and divine favor for the Roman people. Archaeologically, the Venus Anadyomene is found in a remarkable variety of contexts, ranging from the opulent villas of Pompeii to military forts on the edges of the empire. In domestic settings, she was a popular subject for garden shrines and bathhouses, where her aquatic origins complemented the presence of water. Small terracotta or bronze versions of the Anadyomene have even been recovered from ancient trash heaps and soldiers' barracks in provinces like Gaul and Dacia, suggesting that she served a private, protective role for individuals seeking luck in love or health. Today, these artifacts remain "index fossils" of Roman taste, illustrating how a single mythological moment became a universal visual language for the ancient Mediterranean.