Strike a Pose: The Venus Pudica

Each installment of our Strike a Pose series features one of art history’s most seminal postures. Mediums range from sculpture to oils and everything in between. You can find our article about The Venus Pudica at my.meural.com/editorial/5.

Although The Venus Pudica was most famously adopted in Botticelli’s Birth of Venus (1484–86), its inception is attributed to Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos (c. 300 BCE). In it, Praxiteles envisioned his subject emerging from her bath to discover an intruding stranger; she recoils and hastily covers herself.

The pose of arms draped over the breasts and pubis quickly became a standard for depicting women. By drawing attention to what is hidden, the artist actually emphasizes the subject’s sexuality. This regular practice of subjecting a “coy” woman (whose body is more appealing when she hides it out of fear) is unsettling to the contemporary viewer. Our article discusses how historians and artists have grappled with this problem.