Venus in the bath

Venus was the goddess of beauty, love and fertility. It was no wonder that she became a constantly recurring motif in ancient art. The crouching or kneeling Venus was interpreted as an image of the goddess bathing – or perhaps about to rise from the water after bathing.

Venus – or Aphrodite as she was called in Greek mythology – exists as a sculpture in many bathing variants already in antiquity, i.e. more than 2 years ago. We can find such preserved in museums in Florence, Rome, Paris and London.

But already from the 1500th century and well into the future, the motif was also noticed by several artists, who created their own interpretations and variants. One of these artists was Antoine Coysevox who lived 1640-1720. His Venus of 1686 was much admired and even considered better than the then known ancient sculptures of the same motif.

It was also a cast of Coysevox's Venus that was included in the order made by the castle architect Nicodemus Tessin dy on behalf of the Swedish king. Venus arrived in Stockholm in 1700 and has been at the Academy of Fine Arts since 1780. That it really is Coysevox's sculpture that is the original behind the Academy of Fine Arts' specimen is primarily revealed by the fact that Venus is not only crouched in the water, but also sits on a turtle.

In the Art Academy's collection are several older student drawings made after Venus, which was apparently one of the most popular motifs. But above all, she represented the ideal female body with roots in antiquity. And even in contemporary advertising, Venus appears as a concept for beauty, whether it concerns make-up or razors for perfect summer legs.