"Aphrodite and the Gods of Love" is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) through February 2012. The exhibit beautifully pieces together representations of the goddess of love and beauty from a variety of ancient civilizations. The most prominent medium represented is sculpture, but the exhibit also boasts pottery, frescoes, jewelry and small figurines. The works on view largely hail from the MFA's Classical holdings, and are cohesively presented despite their diversity in media, era and cultural association.
The first works presented are of Aphrodite's ancestors and are the oldest objects in the exhibit. Goddesses of the Near East, Egypt and Cyprus, who would later evolve into Aphrodite in the ancient Greek civilization, are represented in startlingly old, small limestone sculptures and in bronze jewelry pieces.
"Head of a female goddess or priestess wearing a high headdress," a limestone Cypriot sculpture (sixth or early fifth century BC), is the largest and most eye−catching of the ancestors. The figure wears ornate jewelry and a crown, has almond shaped eyes, high cheekbones and a wide smile. These features are more common in Eastern art traditions than in the Greco−Roman traditions, examples of which dominate the exhibit.
"Aphrodite" features an impressive collection of Greek ceramics in the classic red−figure technique common during the Classical period in Athens. One display case has pottery used during marriage−related rituals. "Bathing vessel with a bridal procession" (450−425 BC), is a particularly arresting piece, with its high−climbing slender stem and continuous visual narrative of an ancient Greek wedding along its sides.
As the gallery's wall text explains, "the history of the female nude in Western art starts with Aphrodite." Gorgeous nude sculptures of the goddess in a range of sizes dot the room. The precision and mastery of each nude sculpture are incredible.
One work of interest is "Aphrodite (Capitoline Type)," a Roman marble sculpture from the Imperial period (second century AD). Despite the fact that the sculpture's head and extremities are lost, the stunning curvature of Aphrodite's body is revealed in the work.
Another highlight in the exhibition is "Sleeping Hermaphrodite," from the Roman Imperial period (1st century BC). Hermaphrodite was the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, and was born with a body of both male and female characteristics. The sculpture's back resembles the feminine and slender backs of the exhibit's other pieces, but the other side of the sleeping figure reveals Hermaphrodite's breasts and male genitalia.
"Sleeping Hermaphrodite" bespeaks the period's acceptance, or at least acknowledgement, of androgyny and is one of the most captivating pieces in the exhibit.
The exhibition also has many frescoes that are well integrated among the more sculptural artworks that dominate the exhibit. These frescoes are gorgeous depictions of the deities, mostly from the Roman Imperial period.
"The Three Graces," made in Pompeii during the first to second century AD, depicts the daughters of Zeus, who doubled as Aphrodite's handmaidens. The three slender, nude bodies are set against a background of lush vegetation, and their arms are sensually interlocked. Another work, "Cupid and Psyche," a Roman fresco (45−79 AD), is one of the earliest known depictions of kisses in Western art.
"Aphrodite and the Gods of Love" is an absolute must−see. The MFA's phenomenally presented exhibit unifies art from varying time periods and cultures behind the perennial allure of one goddess.
