User:ElizabethOliphint/sandbox

Historical: The history behind the making of the Aphrodite. I want to talk about her origin at Knidos and how she got there: Around 330 BC, Praxiteles was commissioned to create a sculpture of Aphrodite by the Island, Kos. He created two statues: one fully clothed and the other naked. Kos was horrified at the depiction of Aphrodite nude so they took the clothed statue. Knidos bought the remaining Aphrodite and she was installed in Knidos' sanctuary to the goddess, and thus gained a widespread cult-like following for it's beauty. The statue was created for the temple of Aphrodite Euploia at Knidos and depicts a naked Aphrodite as she is interrupted while bathing. I will discuss the importance of the temple of Euploia, how the people of Knidos displayed the Aphrodite, and the importance of her display. How the Aphrodite was viewed and what it meant to the people of Knidos I will discuss how the people of Knidos were so engulfed by this Aphrodite, how their identity changed because of the sculpture. How the Aphrodite changed the viewpoint on female nudity I will elaborate on the historical importance of Praxiteles depicting Aphrodite as nude changed the way Greek and Roman art was made and viewed. I will also touch on the idea of 'heroic nudity' in terms of what it means and how come women were excluded from this genre at this time.

Iconography: I will do an in depth physical analysis of the sculpture and describe the iconography. I will also describe the iconography of Aphrodite herself as the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. I will write about the narrative Praxiteles creates and the story behind her covering herself up, and I will also introduce the idea of the 'male gaze' as a distinguishing trait to her sculpture. I want to lightly touch on her body as an idealized depiction of the Goddess and how Praxiteles veered from this cultural norm by making her larger, as if she were a common woman of Greece. I will analyze 'heroic nudity' more as it relates to the Aphrodite at Knidos and how the idea became a male and now female feature of sculpture from this time period on.

Analysis: I want to describe the Aphrodite as a depiction of the Goddess as well as a representation of a 'real woman' and how Praxiteles went against the norm of depicting a Goddess in an idealized form, and what that meant to the common viewer. I want to talk about the uproar this sculpture caused and how it was so overwhelmingly popular with locals and travelers. I will elaborate on the 'male gaze' as I have mentioned before and I will go into detail about why art was made at this time, and who it was made for; presenting the Aphrodite at Knidos as a perfect example of cultural limitations while still breaking the rules of sculpture. I will also discuss the importance of how she was displayed for the people of Knidos, how the sculpture was displayed so the entire public could view her, and how her display correlates to the pride Knidos had for the Aphrodite sculpture.