Statuette of Aphrodite

Boldly revealing her nude body, Aphrodite holds an apple, the token of her victory as the most beautiful goddess in the Judgment of Paris. The small bronze pad in her left hand once supported an Eros, or Cupid. This statuette was probably worshipped in a household shrine. It was found in Tartus, site of the ancient city of Antarados on the coast of Syria. The statuette was acquired in 1862 by the French collector Louis De Clercq, whose collection included 140 bronzes of Aphrodite from sites in Roman Syria.