squeezablysoft
Well-Known Member
For my Art Appreciation class we had to choose either an artist or an artwork and write a short paper on it. I picked this lovely lady, the Venus of Willendorf. Here is my paper:
The Venus of Willendorf is a limestone sculpture of a human female figure with voluptuous proportions emphasizing the feminine characteristics of the body. It is estimated to have been carved around 24,000-22,000 B.C.E., which makes it one of the oldest art pieces ever discovered. It was originally covered in red ochre but most of this was removed in modern times when the piece was cleaned for display. The Venus was discovered in 1908 in Willendorf, a town in Lower Austria, though interestingly the stone it is made from is not local to this area.
Theories abound as to who created the Venus and for what purpose. The most popular idea is that it is a symbol of fertility, perhaps even an image of a fertility goddess which was used in religious rituals. This is suggested by the exaggerated female form with detailed sexual parts, and the lack of a detailed face which could be because it represented a goddess whose face was not to be looked upon by mortals.
Another theory is that this figure is a self portrait by a female artist of the time looking down at her own body. The details of the sculpture's body suggest it was carved by someone with intimate familiarity of the subject's anatomy, while the lack of a face could be explained by the lack of mirrors in which an individual could see their own face in this time and place.
One mysterious feature of the Venus is that in place of facial features, it has an intricate pattern that could represent elaborately braided hair or a knit cap pulled down over the face, among other things. The meaning of this is unclear, it appears to depersonalize, even dehumanize the subject, perhaps indicating that it represents a mere sexual object. However it could also ironically be a sign of respect to a goddess whose face mankind was not considered worthy enough to look upon. A woman's long, luxuriously styled hair has also carried a connotation of erotic beauty throughout history.
The awesome corpulence of the figure has multiple layers of meaning. In recent Western history, fatness has been ridiculed, shamed, and seen as unhealthy and unattractive, particularly for females. But in many ancient cultures where food was scarce, plumpness was highly prized as a symbol of wealth, health and abundance. The visually implied softness, rounded curves, and emphasis on the breasts may also represent motherhood.
The Venus of Willendorf is a work of art whose existence raises many questions. But even all these centuries later, she still has a primal appeal to the universal image of ideal womanhood. Beauty, sexuality, fertility, maternity and divinity are all a part of her. She is comfort, pleasure, vulnerability, and abundance. She is the giver and nurturer of life. In being no woman in particular she is Every Woman.
The Venus of Willendorf is a limestone sculpture of a human female figure with voluptuous proportions emphasizing the feminine characteristics of the body. It is estimated to have been carved around 24,000-22,000 B.C.E., which makes it one of the oldest art pieces ever discovered. It was originally covered in red ochre but most of this was removed in modern times when the piece was cleaned for display. The Venus was discovered in 1908 in Willendorf, a town in Lower Austria, though interestingly the stone it is made from is not local to this area.
Theories abound as to who created the Venus and for what purpose. The most popular idea is that it is a symbol of fertility, perhaps even an image of a fertility goddess which was used in religious rituals. This is suggested by the exaggerated female form with detailed sexual parts, and the lack of a detailed face which could be because it represented a goddess whose face was not to be looked upon by mortals.
Another theory is that this figure is a self portrait by a female artist of the time looking down at her own body. The details of the sculpture's body suggest it was carved by someone with intimate familiarity of the subject's anatomy, while the lack of a face could be explained by the lack of mirrors in which an individual could see their own face in this time and place.
One mysterious feature of the Venus is that in place of facial features, it has an intricate pattern that could represent elaborately braided hair or a knit cap pulled down over the face, among other things. The meaning of this is unclear, it appears to depersonalize, even dehumanize the subject, perhaps indicating that it represents a mere sexual object. However it could also ironically be a sign of respect to a goddess whose face mankind was not considered worthy enough to look upon. A woman's long, luxuriously styled hair has also carried a connotation of erotic beauty throughout history.
The awesome corpulence of the figure has multiple layers of meaning. In recent Western history, fatness has been ridiculed, shamed, and seen as unhealthy and unattractive, particularly for females. But in many ancient cultures where food was scarce, plumpness was highly prized as a symbol of wealth, health and abundance. The visually implied softness, rounded curves, and emphasis on the breasts may also represent motherhood.
The Venus of Willendorf is a work of art whose existence raises many questions. But even all these centuries later, she still has a primal appeal to the universal image of ideal womanhood. Beauty, sexuality, fertility, maternity and divinity are all a part of her. She is comfort, pleasure, vulnerability, and abundance. She is the giver and nurturer of life. In being no woman in particular she is Every Woman.
