Candelabrum with Aphrodite

Our partially clad Aphrodite holds in one hand a mirror as she applies some make-up. On each of the three supporting feet below, swimming sea-creatures—precursors of mermen—hold young women.

How to explain all this imagery? According to some scholars, the sea creatures are amorously embracing the women as Aphrodite prepares herself for a comparable night of love—just as the owner of this lampstand would do as she applied her own make-up by the light of this sumptuous work.