A very fine ancient Roman Venus statuette cast from bronze. The goddess is displayed standing in a contrapposto pose with her right leg slightly bent carrying her weight, and turning her head slightly to the right. Her hair is elegantly braided towards the back of her head ending in a bun at the nape, with two tresses falling on the shoulders. She is wearing a chiton, draped around her left shoulder and sagging to expose the right breast. Her left arm is out-stretched downwards with an apple in the hand, whilst in her right hand she holds a fold of the robe at the thigh so the toes are exposed beneath the fringe. The statuette has been mounted on a custom-made stand. In Ancient Roman religion and mythology, Venus, her Greek counterpart Aphrodite, was the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation. Known as one of the most beautiful goddesses, she was unwillingly married to Vulcan, a god of lesser beauty. Julius Caesar claimed to have explicit links with the goddess as he believed his family to be descendants of her son, Aeneas. She became a symbol of power across the Roman empire along with her well-known attributes. Measurements (with stand): H 27.4cm x W 9.9cm Measurements (statuette alone): H19.8cm x W 9.9cm Provenance: European private collection, acquired 1980s, or before. Subsequently British private collection, acquired late 1990s from the previous. N.B. Heavy shipping applies.