Have You Seen This Pose Before?

How do you describe a work of art?

With art terms, of course! We’ve heard your questions about works of art at Getty, and we’re here to answer your Frequently Asked Art Questions (FAAQs).

Let’s take a look at the Medici Venus, an ideal statue to describe with the art term, “chaste Venus.”

Watch the video, or read on below!

The Medici Venus was sculpted in the 18th century by Pietro Cipriani, whose name you can find inscribed in Latin on the plinth, or supporting base, of the work.

The statue depicts Venus, the Roman goddess of love. One of the first things you notice about the figure is her arms: one covers her breasts, and the other covers her pubic area, in a chaste or modest gesture.

If you’re thinking that she looks uncomfortable, you’re correct. Venus was the subject of one of the first monumental sculptures of a naked woman in Western art. Plenty of naked men were represented before her, and her pose is considered a counterpart to the boldness of the male heroic nudity.

This statue shows Venus coming out of the bath, just as Praxiteles—the fourth-century sculptor of the first chaste Venus—presented her.

The pose stuck and has been associated with the goddess ever since. You may have spotted it in Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Titian’s Venus of Urbino, and even the Venus de Milo probably adopted a chaste attitude (before she lost her arms).

In fact, if you see a modestly posed goddess depicted in classical art, chances are you’re looking at Venus or Aphrodite, her Greek counterpart.

What other art terms or paintings are you curious about? Let us know on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or email us at stories@getty.edu.