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 The Altoviti Aphrodite. 
 
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 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020506493 
 
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COPYRIGHT 1920 
 
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 FOREWORD 
 
 THIS monograph on the Altoviti Aphrodite, which 
 adorns the marble temple in the gardens of Mr. 
 John D. Rockefeller at his country seat "Kijkuit" 
 on the Hudson, has been compiled and edited from 
 information and notes furnished by Mr. Charles de Kay of 
 New York City, who was the first to point out the artistic 
 merit of the Aphrodite and through whose efforts the 
 statue was brought to the attention of critics in Europe 
 and America. 
 
 Welles Bosworth. 
 
THE APHRODITE IN THE MARBLE TEMPLE AT "KIJKUIT" 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
 TWO statues had long stood^ how long we do not 
 know, in the courtyard^of the^ famous j^^^^ 
 Mggatv ^Alt oviti on the Borgo d'Albizzi in Flor- 
 ence. One of them, the Aphrodite which is the 
 subject of this monograph, was esteemed by its owner 
 as of little worth, while the other, attributed to Jan di 
 Bologna, was highly prized. In 1892 Signor Gustavo 
 Volterra, a dealer in antiques, walking down the street, 
 noticed the two statues through the carriage archway. 
 The Aphrodite stood at the rear of the courtyard against 
 a stable wall, which had been decorated with frescoed 
 fruits and flowers as a background by some sympathetic 
 person who may have dimly realized the statue's beauty 
 through the many coats of thick, rough paint with which it 
 had long before been ignorantly and thoughtlessly covered. 
 Signor .Volterra bought the statue for an insignificant 
 sum, for neither he nor its owner, the Marchesa Matteucci, 
 a descendant of the Montalvos, had a true appreciation of 
 its beauty and value. With soap and water he removed the 
 covering of paint from its surface. The Director of the 
 Uffizi Gallery now wished to buy the statue, but for so 
 low a sum that Signor Volterra, declining the offer, sent 
 the marble to London. Thereupon it came into the posses- 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE ii 
 
 sion of Mr. Frederick Linton, who subsequently brought 
 it to New York City with a collection of old paintings. 
 
 At that time the National Arts Club, then on West 
 Thirty-fourth Street, was arranging a loan exhibition of 
 old paintings. Hearing that there might be some objects 
 worth exhibiting in Mr. Linton's collection, Mr. Charles 
 de Kay went with him to the warehouse in which they 
 were stored and after looking over the canvases learned 
 that he possessed an old marble which some connoisseurs 
 had pronounced a veritable antique. Mr. de Kay thus 
 describes the impression the statue made upon him: 
 
 "A glance at the figure made me think it was an old copy of 
 the Medici Venus at Florence, but when the dim light gave place 
 to full daylight I was immediately impressed by its extraordinary 
 beauty. On examination I found that its arms, unlike the 
 Medici's, were an integral part of the marble. It also had a base, 
 which bore marks of extreme antiquity; then, one of its hands, 
 the. right hand lightly touching the left breast, had upon it the 
 remains of a strap decorated with reliefs to represent gold 
 studs, bosses and cabuchon jewels, absolutely unknown to any 
 of the marble statues of Venus which have come down to us. 
 Aside then from the exquisite beauty of the face and figure, 
 aside from the extraordinary perfection of the dolphin which 
 rears itself as a support beside the legs, here was a statue which 
 could not have been derived from any origmarsa far, discovered, 
 and least of all from the"Venus de Medici. Rather would it be 
 mo£e reasonable to believe that here was the qj-iglnal by Praxit- 
 eles from which Kleomeries of Athens made the iamous Venus 
 de Medici about 250 b. c, a century later." 
 
 Mr. Linton did not appreciate the value of his possession. 
 Indeed, he had prized it so little that in 1893 he sent it by 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 15 
 
 freight to the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 
 consigned to the Greek Department. The statue arrived 
 long after the exhibition had opened. Hearing nothing of 
 his loan, Mr. Linton requested a relative who was about to 
 visit Chicago to inquire at the Greek Department whether 
 it had arrived. There was no such department and the 
 investigator by the merest chance learned that in the Japa- 
 nese section there was an unaccounted-for case containing 
 a marble statue. This proved to be the Aphrodite. 
 
 Later Mr. de Kay arranged to have the statue exhibited 
 by th^ National Arts Club, and published an article in the 
 JSTeWT'dr^ Time ly of jwhich. he was art critic, attributing the 
 statue- to_Praxiteles. Considerable controversy and great 
 public interest followed this publication. Throngs of art 
 lovers came again and again to see the Aphrodite. Flowers 
 were laid at its feet and poets were moved to verse. The 
 late John La Farge suggested that it might be the work 
 of Skopas. The Sunday papers dedicated special supple- 
 ments to the subject. New York was enjoying a veritable 
 art sensation. 
 
 Meanwhile it became known that the statue might be 
 purchased, though for reasons of his own the owner would 
 not at that time divulge where he had obtained it. Those 
 disposed to recommend its purchase to private or public 
 galleries were naturally mystified and made skeptical by 
 this attitude. Had Mr. Linton frankly given the name of 
 the dealer in Florence who had discovered the statue in the 
 Palazzo Altoviti these suspicions would have been allayed. 
 
 In 1908 the Aphrodite became the property of two Eng- 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 17 
 
 lish gentlemen. Sir Algernon Firth, Bart, and Mr. William 
 Henry Aykroyd, who took it to London. At their request 
 Mr. de Kay showed it to various artists, archaeologists and 
 connoisseurs in order to procure their opinion of its origin. 
 Professor. Xanteri of the South Kensington Schools con- 
 firmed Mr. deKay'5. opinion that the statue was the work 
 of the same hand which had modeled the Hermes at 
 
 By special favor the statue was then placed in the British 
 Museum beside a cast of the Medici Venus, in order that 
 the differences between them might be readily observed. 
 Many authorities agreed that the Montalvo-Altoviti might 
 be the orj^inal^Jram^which "Kleomenes," if the name on 
 the plinth can be accepted, had copied the Medici. 
 
 The British owners, now wishing to ascertain the judg- 
 ment of French authorities, sent the Aphrodite to Paris 
 where several archaeologists came to view it. Auguste Rodin 
 was profoundly stirred by its beauty, but, protesting that he 
 was not an archaeologist, declined to decide on its age or its 
 authorship. Others were more explicit. M. Pottier, head 
 of the department of antique terra cottas of the Louvre, 
 thought it belonged to the first century before Christ; none 
 considered it modern or Renaissance or Graeco-Roman; 
 there appeared to be a general consensus of opinion how- 
 ever thatTFwas Greek, antedating the Christian era. 
 
 "FihaTly Mr. de Kay went to Florence, where, without 
 disclosing his interest in the statue, he learned from Signor 
 Volterra the details of his discovery and purchase of the 
 Aphrodite. 
 
FRONT VIEW OF ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
THE VENUS DE MEDICI 
 
II 
 
 ^AN the marble from which the Aphrodite was 
 carvedlje iHentifi Was it cut from a block taken 
 from the old quarries^ on Mount Pentelikos within 
 sight of Athens, quarries long ago exhausted, from 
 which came the material to build the Parthenon, or was it 
 made from marble from the Island of Paxos,^ also much 
 used by Praxiteles and other Athenian sculptors ? 
 
 It is cKracteHsficjQfLPentelikan marble that its warm, yel- 
 lowish tone when freshly quarried disappears to some degree 
 provided the block is not exposed to the weather. Where 
 the sun and rain beat upon its surface, as in parts of the 
 ruined Parthenon, the yellow tone increases. This is due 
 to the presence of iron, which at some points in the surface 
 becomes visible in fine metallic spicules. Upon examining 
 this statue one finds a^eneral warm hue in the color of 
 the marblcj, and curiously enough, in several places the 
 riietallic spicules are clearly visible. When the statue was 
 exhibited at the National Arts Club there happened to be 
 in New York certain quarrymen from Athens engaged in 
 work on an altar in the Greek Church. They unhesitatingly 
 expressed the opinion that the marble of the Aphrodite was 
 from the ancient but now exhausted Pentelikan quarries 
 which had been used in building the Parthenon. 
 
 The statue is clearly not of Parian marble. Although 
 this is richer in tone than Carrara, it is whiter than 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 25 
 
 Pentelikan and has a sharper, whiter glitter when fractured. 
 The two materials have been much confused. Parian mar- 
 ble had attained such a reputation after the great age of 
 sculpture that writers were prone to assume it without 
 discrimination. Records of the time of Pliny and Pau- 
 sanias often speak, of Parian when the statue described, if 
 an old one, was really Pentelikan, Indeed they can 
 hardly be blamed for ignorance concerning a matter known 
 only to quarry masters and sculptors. Even today in such 
 collections as the Louvre and Vatican, one often comes 
 across an old bit described in the catalogue as Parian 
 which on close examination proves to be from the old 
 quarry on Mount Pentelikos. 
 
 Injthe old statueSi„objects such as the trunk of a tree 
 or a large jar or dolphin, which we find in the Altoviti 
 marble and in the Venus de Medici^ are generally placed 
 neaTfnthi^fieure. Their use is often misunderstood and 
 falsely interpreted. Such treatment of the old marbles was 
 practical in its origin, being intended to obviate the danger 
 lest the heavy mass of the torso break the marble at the 
 ankles of the figure. 
 
 As a familiar instance we have the Lykian Apollo in the 
 Louvre, probably a Graeco-FToman copy^the of igihal by 
 Praxitel^^ mentioned by, Lucian as an ornament of the 
 gymnasium at Athens. The figure rests one elbow on a 
 tfee~ffuhkr from which, half way down, juts a strong 
 branch as a support to the left thigh. The sculptor has 
 used the trunk and branch not only for strengthening the 
 statue but to accentuate the relaxed pose of the god. 
 
VIEW OF RIGHT SIDE OF ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
VIEW OF LEFT SIDE OF ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 31 
 
 Another statue in the Louvre, the famous Apollo the 
 Lizard-killer, has two, if iibt three; branches ^pringing^ 
 from the trunk, all serving as firm supports for the marble 
 figure. The Hermes at Olympia also has such a branch 
 from the tree trunk, on the top of w^hich reposes his left 
 arm; the branch also helps support the infant Bacchus and 
 the gathered mass of drapery, 
 
 In-vieffi^of jJie jieed-0£&uppQrtjdue,Jt.o the inhsrejit fra- 
 gility of marble, sculptors are accustomed to place a block 
 uhTier"fhe"hee^l^^7 C fpot jvhich is partially raised in the 
 attitude: of suspended movement. This is often seen in 
 statues after the manner of Praxiteles. We find it before 
 his day in The Athlete by Polykleitos as well as in his 
 Satyr Pouring Wine in the Buoncampagni Museum at 
 Rome; als6~in'the Farnese Eros^ of the Louvre; and we 
 must suppose it to have been used in the Hermes at 
 Olympia, for the movement of the legs demands that one 
 of the feet, which has been lost, should rest on the toes. 
 
 This_supporting.block,under the heel of one foot is found 
 in the Montalvo-Altoviti AphroditeT^ is also the other 
 and~principal support, which takes the form of a~ dolphin 
 coanectedwith-the figure of the Goddess, its tail touching 
 at another point, giving still further strength to the lower 
 portion of the statue. 
 
 Praxiteles also considered_carefully_the character of the 
 settingj.n which a work was to stand. A part which remained 
 out of sight was notjfinished with the pains lavished upon 
 theother parts. One notes for example the unfinished back 
 of the Hermes with the infant Bacchus on his arm, which 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
 33 
 
 P^sanias, traveling in Greece in the second century after 
 Christ, sgw ijn_the^^JHemon at Olyn^^ Evidently that 
 masterpiece was originally intended for a niche, having 
 been subsequently transferred to the Heraion when that 
 temple became a museum. 
 
 The Venus de Milo is another example of a niche statue 
 with unfinished back. Very different is the Altoviti Aphro- 
 dite, in which the back is a marvel of beautjr. Here was 
 a^joddess to be admired from all sides, like the far-famed 
 KnidianT'^phrodite by Praxiteles. " 
 
THE HERMES BY PRAXITELES 
 
PRAXITELES' "MARBLE FAUN 
 
w 
 
 III 
 
 HEN this statue was chiseled from the block, 
 the artist was hot disturbed by the fact that 
 the color of the marble did not rjan evenly 
 and that a lighter tone appeared obliquely 
 across and down the torso. The modern sculptor, precluded 
 fro^P?^intyig_his statues, regards such a defect as prohibi- 
 tive^ndje^eks a flawless block. The Renaissance as a rule 
 pursued the same course, making, however, an occasional 
 exception in the case of a portrait bust or religious statue 
 of coarser stone and terra cotta. But the ancients felt the 
 hard cold stone to be unsympathetic and therefore covered 
 it with what the Greeks called yovSw and the Latins 
 circumlitio, a varnish or polish of colored wax and oil 
 rubbed into the marble, which took on the appearance of 
 flesh or ivory. 
 
 To cite one or two examples : There is in the British 
 Museum a bust which has retained some of its original 
 coloring, a rosy hue of lips and cheeks, a blue tone of the 
 iris. And when the Hermes was first found at Olympia 
 it had faint traces of color in the hair and drapery, while 
 on the sandal the color was very distinct. Colors have 
 survived better on many Tanagra figurines, perhaps because 
 of the roughness of the terra cotta surfaces. 
 
 The painting of sculpture was also common during the 
 middle ages, and this method of treatment still persists in 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 41 
 
 the painted images of the Roman Catholic churches today. 
 Ancient statues were further prnament^^^ actual 
 
 gol^narmrets (in our Ap-hrodits the Je^^^ 
 
 depressi^nto Jiold_^ armlet in .p.kce).i with golden 
 
 gemj|^et_piendants_in the^ears (the ears of this statue are 
 bored for this purpose}; and in other ways by realistic 
 touches, such as the placing of a golden fillet across the hair 
 and the sprinkling of the tinted locks with powdered gold. 
 
 At the time when statues of gods and goddesses were 
 carved by the greatest sculptors the world has produced, 
 the painter who added the finishing touches of color had 
 to be an artist of consummate skill. It was his task to 
 consider the light which was to illumine the figure, the 
 background against which it was to stand, the distance 
 from which it was to be seen by the worshippers at the 
 outer gates. He must consider too the decorations to be 
 added in drapery, gold, ivory or jewels. 
 
 Goldsmiths as well as painters were employed to make 
 the ornaments with which the statues were to be adorned. 
 No artist was held too great to render such services, not 
 even the proud Parrhasios, who, on losing a competition 
 to paint a picture of Ajax, remarked that he cared very 
 little for his own defeat, but was sorry for Ajax who was 
 thus doomed to be defeated a second time. 
 
DETAIL OF THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
THE VENUS DE MILO 
 
h 
 
 rv^?e^7Ns3?<2>Tv.3e(§^/T>3t<L^^^ 
 
 IV 
 
 THE discovery of the Altoviti Aphrodite, as de- 
 scribed in the first section of this narrative, did 
 not escape the attention of the Florentines. Pro- 
 fessor L. A. Milani made it the subject of a report 
 included in a volume prepared in honor of the archaeologist 
 Wolfgang Helbig, called Strena Helbigiana, which was 
 published by Teubner in Leipzig in 1890. 
 
 On measuring the arms of the statue Professor Milani 
 found that they coincided exactly with the measurements 
 of the arms added to the Venus de Medici in the seven- 
 teenth century, when that statue was brought to Florence 
 from Rome. Perhaps Ercole Ferrata, the sculptor who 
 restored the Medici, had this statue before him in the 
 collection of the Montalvos. 
 
 Professor Milani thought the decorative strap on the 
 hand .was an armlet. Had he examined the ends"5ehind the 
 IiaiiH, fie surely would have realized that the object was not 
 meant for an armlet, and further, that the circular depression 
 on the upper arm would not have fitted the little strap in 
 question. This leads us to a more detailed consideration of 
 an interesting theme, the "kestos" of Aphrodite. 
 
V 
 
 ACH_of^th£^diviiiities_qf Olympus had his or her 
 s^^mbgJLor attribute: Zeus his thuhHerboTf7~Posei- 
 don his trident, Hera a sceptre ending in a cuckoo. 
 Ares his sword, Pallas Athene her spear, Hermes 
 his serpent-entwined caduceus, Herakles his club and lion 
 skin, Apollo his bow, cithara or lyre. 
 
 Aphrodite has her.^kestos, thajt^embrqidered strap or 
 little girdle, which, before, the fashion of the broad girdle, 
 ran below the breasts and, tapering toward the ends, was 
 fastened right and left to the brooches on the shoulders. 
 This was the intimate and decorated object lying half 
 hidden in the bosom of a girl, which she gave only to the 
 man she loved and meant to marry. The wearing of the kes- 
 tos ^asjji^n probability out of fashion even in the time of 
 Praxiteles, but it was never forgotten by the poets of Greece 
 and Rome, because the Iliad kept it ever in their minds. 
 
 The kestos of Aphrodite was used as a symbol; a whole 
 train of love meanings attached to it long after the Greek 
 women had ceased to make it a part of their attire. Per- 
 haps here lies the reason why the kestos had not been 
 seen in a life-size marble statue before the Altoviti Venus 
 was discovered and why even then its meaning was at 
 first misunderstood. 
 
 The kestos can be found in certain small bronzes in 
 the British Museum which are catalogued as coming from 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 51 
 
 Egypt. A few terra cottas also show it. But these instances 
 are so rare that it is not to be wondered at, that the allusions 
 to the kestos in Homer and Martial have been overlooked 
 by writers of the past. 
 
 Homer first alludes to the kestos as follows: 
 
 Then with crafty purposes the lady Hera answered her: 
 ' Give me now Love and Desire wherewith thou dost overcome 
 all the Immortals and mortal men, for I am going to visit the 
 limits of the bountiful Earth, and Okeanos, father of the Gods, 
 and mother Tethys, who reared me well and nourished me in 
 their halls, having taken me from Rhea when far-seeing Zeus 
 imprisoned Kronos beneath the earth and the unvintaged sea. 
 Them am I going to visit, and their endless strife will I loose, 
 for already this long time they hold apart from each other, apart 
 from Love and the marriage bed, since wrath hath settled in 
 their hearts. If with words I might persuade their hearts and 
 bring them back to love and the marriage bed, ever should I 
 be called dear to them and worshipful.' 
 
 Then laughter-loving Aphrodite answered her again : ' It 
 may not be, nor seemly were it to deny that thou askest, for 
 thou sleepest in the arms of Zeus, the chief of the Gods.' ^ 
 
 Therewith from her breast she loosed the broidered girdle \ 
 {kestos himas) fair wrought, wherein are all her enchantments ; 
 therein are love and desire and loving converse, that steals the 
 wits even of the wise. This girdle she laid in her hands and 
 spoke and said : ' Lo now, take this girdle and lay it in thy 
 bosom, this fair-wrought girdle, wherein all things are fashioned ; 
 methinks thou wilt not return with that unaccomplished which 
 in thy heart thou desirest.' 
 
 So spake she and the ox-eyed lady Hera smiled, and smiling 
 laid up the zone within her breast. 
 
 Iliad, Butcher and Lang's translation, Book XIV. 
 
HAND OF ALTOVITI STATUE SHOWING KESTOS BEFORE RESTORATION 
 
LEFT HAND OF THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 57 
 
 The inference seems clear that the fair wrought em- 
 broidered strap [kesios himas poikilos) instead of being 
 a zone or girdle as Lang translates it, was a small object 
 which Aphrodite unfastened from her breast and Hera 
 placed in her own bosom. It may have been the prototype 
 of the zone girdle of later days, but at the time when the 
 Iliad was first sung it was a small, embroidered, perfumed 
 and gem-studded breast ornament. 
 
 Lucian speaks of it as a small object which Aphrodite 
 hardly misses from her breast when the infant Hermes 
 purloins it. Apollo says to Hephaistos in Dialogues of 
 the Gods: 
 
 "Ah, and you don't know what a glib young chatterbox he 
 is; and, if he has his way, he is to be our errand-boy. Yesterday 
 he challenged Eros, tripped up his heels somehow, and had him 
 on his back in a twinkling. Before the applause was over he had 
 taken the opportunity of a congratulatory hug from Aphrodite 
 to steal her kestos; Zeus had not done laughing before the 
 sceptre was gone. If the thunder-bolt had not been too heavy, 
 and very hot, he would have made away with that too." 
 
 Translation by H. W. and F. G. Fowler. Vol. I. 
 
 He employs it again in an amusing fashion in one of his 
 Dialogues of the Gods in the scene of the judgment of 
 Paris. The dramatis personae are Hera, Pallas Athene, 
 Aphrodite, Hermes as personal courier of the goddesses, 
 and Paris, the shepherd prince. Hera has disrobed and 
 has been surveyed: 
 
 Paris: "Aphrodite, will you also prepare?" 
 
 Athene: "O, Paris, make her remove that kestos, there Is 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 59 
 
 magic in it ; she will bewitch you. She ought to present herself 
 unadorned." 
 
 Paris: " You are right about the kestos, it must go." 
 
 Aphrodite: "Ah then, Athene; take off that helmet and show 
 your head bare, instead of trying to intimidate the judge with 
 that waving plume. I suppose you are afraid the color of your 
 eyes may be noticed, without their formidable surroundings." 
 
 Athene: " Here is my helmet." 
 
 Aphrodite: "And here is my kestos." 
 
 Hera: "Now then." 
 
 Paris: " God of wonders ! What loveliness is here! O, rap- 
 ture! How exquisite these maiden charms! How dazzling 
 the majesty of Heaven's true queen! And O, how sweet, how 
 enthralling is Aphrodite's smile ! 'Tis too much, too much for 
 happiness. But perhaps it would be well for me to view each 
 in detail; for as yet I doubt, and know not where to look; my 
 eyes are drawn all ways at once." 
 
 Translation by H. W. and F. G. Fowler. Vol. I. See appendix herewith. 
 
 In the object on the right hand of this statue, there re- 
 mained two parts of the loop; the central portion has now 
 been restored by the sculptor F. M. L. Tonetti. In the 
 original one sees alternate square and round bosses indi- 
 cating gold and begemmed adornments. The two ends of 
 this strap fall behind the hand and are found to taper, as 
 if for tieing. This is the kestos. 
 
 An epigram by M.Valerius Martialis, the Roman-Spaniard 
 of the first century a. d., on a statue of Julia of the house 
 of the Caesars, contains an allusion to the kestos and proves 
 moreover that all sculptors had not neglected to display 
 the talisman four centuries after Praxiteles : 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 6i 
 
 Who would not imagine, O Julia, that you were the work 
 of the chisel of Pheidias or a marvel of the art of Pallas Athene ? 
 From the white Lydian marble, as if speaking, a live and liquid 
 expression shines through thy serene face. Thy smooth hand 
 toys with the Acidalian knot (the kestos) which, O poor little 
 Cupidj has been snatched from thy neck! In order that the 
 loves of Mars and high thundering Jove shall be renewed, Juno 
 and Venus herself may borrow from thee thy kestos." 
 
 Translation by C. de Kay, 
 
 The allusion to snatching the kestos from the neck of 
 Cupid may be understood from certain engraved gems 
 which show Eros standing by Aphrodite with the kestos 
 in his hand, as if he had stolen and was returning it to his 
 mother in a sportive, infantile fashion. 
 
 The small bronzes mentioned above as in the British ^ 
 Museum (there is a third in the Bibliotheque Nationale 
 in Paris) in which the goddess holds the kestos in her 
 hand doubled up as if to strike someone with it, are suffi- 
 ciently explained by another epigram of Martial's on the 
 marriage of the poet Stella to lanthis. Venus whispers 
 in the ear of lanthis, just wedded to her Stella : 
 
 "Oft have I myself in rage beaten lascivious Mars whilst he 
 wandered about, inconstant, before the portals opened to our 
 legitimate spousals. But since he became mine he has never 
 injured me through a rival. Juno might well desire that Jupiter 
 should be so constant ! " Thus spake she and struck the husband 
 (Stella) with the mystic strap (the kestos). 
 
 Translation by C. de Kay, 
 
 These quotations from Homer, Lucian and Martial, and 
 the menacing attitude of the little bronzes mentioned, are 
 enough to warrant one in saying that by the old Greeks the 
 
SIDE VIEW OF ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 65 
 
 kestos was considered the weapon of Aphrodite, stronger 
 than the spear of Ares or the club of Herakles because it 
 was a magic weapon like the caduceus of Hermes. 
 
 But if one wishes to see the kestos displayed at full 
 length, with indications of its decorations of alternate ^^ 
 circles and crosses, one must consult the Reports of the 
 German Archaeological Institute in Athens for 1 878, where 
 K. D. Mulonas has described in modern Greek an old 
 bronze with figures engraved upon it. Aphrodite in a long 
 chiton with a girdle about her waist sits in profile at the 
 left; Hermes, nude, sits opposite at the right, in profile, 
 holding his serpentine herald's wand. Between them, but 
 above, stands Eros, nude, with very large wings, facing 
 the observer. He holds with spread arms the two ends 
 of a strap decorated toward the middle with alternating 
 circles and crosses, representing jewels and round gold 
 bosses. One tapering end hangs for tieing. Mr. Mulonas 
 points out that this is the yvaarov ^poriKov (Tviipokov, Tcuvia, "the 
 well-known symbol of love, the raCvia." 
 
 A gold ring in the British Museum which Furtwaengler 
 reproduces in his Antike Gemmen IX, 47 shows Aphro- i^' 
 dite completely nude resting her left elbow on a fluted 
 column which holds her drapery. She wears anklets and 
 a bracelet on the upper left arm. Her weight is supported 
 on the right leg while the left is flexed. Her face is turned 
 to the right in the rhythmic way. She holds out her right 
 arm with palm downward, while a dove rests on the back 
 of this extended hand. Underneath stands a little winged 
 Eros, extending to his mother her kestos ornamented with 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 67 
 
 jewels. This is a fine intaglio of the fourth century and 
 shows the influence of Praxiteles in the droop of the head 
 and the restful relaxed pose. 
 
 In an agate intaglio belonging to a Duke of Wurtem- , 
 berg we see Eros kneeling with his back to a column and 
 holding the kestos in his right hand. Other examples of 
 the kestos in paintings and sculpture from the sixth century 
 onward will undoubtedly be found, now that attention has 
 been called to the talisman. 
 
 Another epigram of Martial reads: "Tie round thy neck, 
 O boy, the purest of loves, the kestos, still warm from the 
 bosom of Venus." 
 
 Another of the same sort reads: "Accept the kestos 
 impregnated with the nectar of Venus; this same symbol 
 inflamed Jupiter with love." 
 
 So we find that Martial, the Hispano-Roman poet of 
 the first, and Lucian, the Ionian Greek writer of the second 
 century after Christ, knew perfectly that the kestos was 
 neither zone nor girdle, but a small breast ornament, as 
 clearly indicated in the Iliad. 
 
 The sculptor of a completely nude Aphrodite had to 
 face several problems if he wished to please the priests 
 and priestesses of the goddess. He could not evade the 
 necessity of showing this most important of all her attri- 
 butes, any more than he could model Apollo without his 
 bow or his lyre, or Hermes without his caduceus. There 
 was the dolphin, to be sure, and for Aphrodite there might 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 69 
 
 also be the swan or the dove, but how adjust the kestos 
 without some drapery? The sculptor of the Altoviti 
 conceived the innovation of throwing it over the right 
 hand in a careless manner, as if it were an object too pre- 
 cious and important to be put aside with drapery. 
 
BACK VIEW OF THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
•^ M A ^ A -M A '^ •*# ^ •^ ^ •!• 
 
 •!• ^ .;. IT -.^ IT •> IT V ^ ^* »^ •> 
 
 VI 
 
 THE episode in the career of Aphrodite which 
 seems to be illustrated by the Altoviti statue can 
 scarcely be other than her land-nama, her appear- 
 ance at Kythera after her magical birth jGrom the 
 foam j)f the sea. There is no drapery at all. She is attended 
 by the dolphin, which, though warm-blooded, was yet a sym- 
 bol of the sea, and fabled once to have been a human being. 
 Stories have been told of its return by night in human form 
 to seek human love. Aphrodite at her first splendid appear- 
 ance carries nothing Imt^her talisnian of Lpye, the kestos 
 himas or bejewelled band. It is enough; for we have a 
 warrant of its limitless inclusiveness from her own lips: 
 
 T'^ vBv, TovTOv i/xavTa ToS cyKarSeo KoXirot. 
 IIoiKi'A.ov, (u cvi Travra TiTev\aTai 
 
 Lo now, take this girdk and lay it up in thy bosom. 
 
 This fair- wrought (or many-colored) girdle wherein all things are fashioned. 
 
 [Iliad XIV 219. — ^Transladon of Lang, Leaf and Myers], 
 
 Further confirmation of this episode has been found by 
 some observers in one detail of the little marble platform, 
 an integral part of the original block, from which the 
 dolphin rears himself so joyously. Unlike the plinth of 
 other surviving marbles, this one seems to bear an indication 
 of fine waves like the surface of sand under the impulse of 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
 75 
 
 gentle ripples. This would denote the landing of Aphrodite 
 foam-fashioned "born from the sea." 
 
 Xhg_rrp£l£S traced on_the stand of_this_statue, the 
 d^gressionj)n tRe arm to Tibld the armlet, and the kestos 
 found on_the hand, seem in themselves Ito set the date 
 of the statue well back into the fourth centuiy, about 380 
 B. c, a date corresponding to the early years of Praxiteles. 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE BEFORE RESTORATION 
 OF THE FINGERS AND KESTOS 
 
BACK VIEW OF ALTOVITI APHRODITE SHOWING FACE IN PROFILE 
 
VII 
 
 THE sculptor Praxiteles may in his day have been 
 criticised for departing from the severe majesty of 
 Polykleitos of Argos and Pheidias of Athens in his 
 treatment of religious effigies; but the sweetness 
 and grace, the easy pose and delicate charm of his statues 
 soon made his work the delight of the cultivated public. 
 
 He came of a family of sculptors and his sons and 
 nephews carried on his art. Though he was far from 
 throwing tradition to the winds, and though he often 
 seems to follow Polykleitos and his own elder brother, 
 Kephisodotos, yet he left a deep stamp of his own indi- 
 viduality on Greek sculpture. 
 
 Cicero__sp.6aks,. of Praxitelean heads, Praxitelia capita. 
 There was something in the pose, shape and expression of 
 the heads' of his statuesTwhich clearly marked them from 
 those of other sculptors of and near his time. Tliis personal 
 trait makes it possible to distinguish copies of lost originals, 
 in which the copyist has utterly failed to approach the 
 mastgE,^. from other copies after other men. 
 
 The Aphrodite of Aries, the. Artemis of Gabii, the 
 Apollo Lizard-killer and .Lyki*n- Apolla - in the. .. JLaavre, 
 the Artemis of-Kition, at-Vi©nnay the iieadof Aphr_o.dite.5t- 
 Toulouse, the Aphrodite of Knidos and the Eros of Thespiai 
 atl_the XatiHa* .and the Satyr^at Rest in the Capitoline 
 Mijseum-at Rome, are copies which.,OJiKe.-,t.h£it;attribution 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 83 
 
 to Praxiteles largely to the pensive droop of the head, a 
 peciHiaFinbdelihg of the and'er eyelids7t^^^ of 
 
 tlie^hair and the modeling of the f6fehead,^at least in those 
 male heads which do not represent boys. 
 
 \Vith respect to "the hair, there is more variety in the 
 masculine tharTthe feminine heads. The shdft crisp tufted 
 locks of the Hermes at Olympia are somewhat similar in 
 treatment to the hair of the Young Herakles in the British 
 Museum; but how very different is the hair of the Satyr 
 Pouring Wine in the Buoncampagni Museum! and how 
 different again is that of the Farnese Eros in the Louvre! 
 The two latter belong to his early period. Still another 
 way of rendering long, curling locks is seen in the Eros of 
 ThespiaTat the Vatican, and singular is the mass of hair 
 coming low on the J)rqw of the Satyr at Rest, almost 
 like a wig."^""'" 
 
 The arra,ngenient of the hair in the Altoviti Aphrodite 
 is_Jike that in the Aphrodite of Aries, rippling tresses 
 parted in the middle and brought together at the back 
 in a knot. The ripples are crossed by a fillet which goes 
 twice around the head, the bands lying several inches apart. 
 The same rendering of the hair isjeenJja the Aphrodite of 
 Knidos of the Vatican and in theJiead^atJDouIeuse. 
 
 "TTKe eyes of this' Aphrodite have the oft-described dreamy 
 look of Praxitelean heads, somewhat deeply set, as they 
 are, uflder clear-cut brows, inclining downwards and having 
 the^unobtrusive lower lids that throw no shadows, differing 
 thus from the lower lids in statues made before Praxiteles. 
 This isperha'ps the celebrated "liquid" or "swimming" 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
 85 
 
 expression reported by the ancients in the Aphrodite of 
 Knidos, for example". The dreamy or swiniming; effect is 
 a trait of Praxiteles rlST one before him and few after him 
 attained to this subtle restful gaze, this look of one aloof. 
 
THE CAPITOLINE VENUS AT ROME 
 This statue is in the Museum in the Capitol at Rome. Late variant on the Kr 
 Aphrodite by Praxiteles 
 
 idian 
 
BACK OF THE CAPITOLINE VENUS AT ROME 
 
VIII 
 
 N the delicacy of his modeling Praxiteles was marvelous. 
 Tins ^J)Tirqdi^ to one famirrafwifhhts" works 
 
 certain points of detail charaeteristie-of^him: the neck, 
 with the slight circular depressions called collier de 
 Venus, the mouth with its slightly parted lips and deeply 
 chiseled, corners, the dimple in the chin,_and the angle 
 made by the plane of the eyes with the eye-sockets, the 
 bridge of the nose, the forehead just above the brows with 
 its transverse depression, and the method used to denote the 
 hair line around the^forehead. 
 
 Most of the statues which descend from originals by 
 Praxiteles show the head inclined and the face turned 
 toward that side on which the greater weight of the body 
 is sustained by the unflexed leg. In the Altoviti Venus it 
 is the left leg that sustains the weight and it is toward the 
 leJt'TharireTface is turned. This apparently insignificant 
 detailis of the greatest importance. It is part of the rhythm 
 and^ harmony which Praxiteles certainly did not originate 
 but which he carried to more exquisite perfection than any 
 of his great predecessors and fellow-masters. 
 
 In order to realize the secret of the inner rhythm of a 
 statue, which may be called the rhythm of rest, one has 
 merely to imagine the face of this figure turned the other 
 way. At once there is discord, uneasiness. The sure inner 
 harmony of head and face is seen in the Diadoumenos of 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 93 
 
 Polykleitos, in the Eirene and Infant Ploutos of Kephiso- 
 dotos and in the earher and mid-life works of their follower 
 Praxiteles, in his Hermes at Olympia, in the Satyr Pouring 
 Wine, in the Farnese Eros and the Eros of Thespiai, in the 
 Aphrodite of Aries and the Artemis of Gabii. 
 
 Pliny reports that though Praxiteles wrought also" in 
 bronze, his marble statues were more famous. The bronze 
 worker stands revealed in one part of this statue, namely, 
 the symbolic sporting dolphin. The tail of the dolphin is 
 wrought so thin and projects so far from the side of the 
 goddess that one marvels at the daring of the sculptor. 
 Lightly struck, it sings reverberatingly with a sound as of 
 metal. And while the Hermes at Olympia and the Aphro- 
 dite of Milo at Paris are not entirely chiseled from one 
 block, in the Altoviti the arms, the head, the plinth, the 
 dolphin, are all of the same piece of marble. 
 
 m. 
 
THE APHRODITE WITH DOLPHIN 
 Another Variant on the Praxitelean Aphrodite. Later than the Medici 
 
IX 
 
 XTRAORDINARY indeed is the good fortune 
 that has preserved this statue almost entire for all 
 these years ! It has lost only several of the fingers 
 and" the middle sectfon of the kesitos, which Mr. 
 Tonetti has skilfully restored. Its excellent condition indi- 
 cates, we may believe, that it never suffered shipwreck, and 
 was always admired enough to cause its owners to hide it 
 during wars and that it was never exposed to sun, rain and 
 frost. What saved it during the last few centuries was the 
 lucky coatings of paint which dimmed its beauty and led 
 its owners to think that it had little or no market value. 
 Doubtless it h^ long passed for a copy of the Medici. 
 
 That it may have been in Florence when the Medici statue 
 was brought from Rome and restored has been already noted. 
 But that it was in Florence several centuries earlier, perhaps 
 before the Altovitis owned it, is at least highly probable, 
 and for this reason : l^njen.\^jizJhno\a., the first person to 
 give readings on Dante, commenting on a mention which 
 Dante had made of Polykleifos in "his Pufgatofi6,^has a 
 no'lentD°thfe~effeH^tTiat Be,^eriveniSt^ had seen in a private 
 house in Florencea wonderful nude statue of Aphrodite 
 attributed to this same Polykleitos. There are points in the 
 Altoviti goddess, as previously mentioned, which prove 
 that the young sculptor Praxiteles was under the influence 
 of" Polykleitos, as were also his father and elder brother. 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
 99 
 
 Kephisodotos. Jn-ius-latet.-w*>dc-tliiainfluence became 
 wjeakgr,.„ The men of the middle ages knew Praxiteles 
 through jcopies~By^ late Greeks or "Graerco=Rt)mans and 
 obviously could have known npthingjjf his early work 
 from actual originals. Hence the attribution. 
 
 These inferences, if correct, would account for it at Flor- 
 ence as far back as the fourteenth century, in which case it 
 has for five centuries been in private hands, perhaps passing 
 down by bequest, or seized, together with other family 
 treasures, by some tyrant like Cosimo de Medici, who laid 
 a heavy hand on the possessions of his political foes. 
 
 Back of that one cannot go. And yet there is so much 
 unexplored material in the annals of Florentine families 
 that it would not be surprising if some clew were still to 
 be discovered which would show this marble in the lists of 
 antiquities belonging to one or more of them during these 
 five hundred years. 
 
 As a composition this statue is superior to any work by 
 Pjaxiteles so far known. It is equally beautiful from every 
 point of view. It is more rounded and compact. The "holes 
 in.thsLe<3mpbsItioji^'' the interstices between leg and leg, be- 
 tween leg and dolphin, present the loveliest lines imaginable. 
 The turn of the head, its droop, the flexure of the leg, all 
 combine to impress one with a tender pensive air of rest 
 and suspended easy motion. 
 
 Tojipgreciajtfe.the superiority of this figure to the famous 
 Aphrodite„pf ,KnidQS it is only necessary to look at that 
 statue from the side of the water-jar and drapery, and note 
 how the jar and drapery interfere with the view of the lower 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE loi 
 
 part of the figure, as compared with the Altoviti marble "^ 
 seen from the side oPthe doiphm, where nothing is lost. 
 ^"ConiTaryH^-the^iabit of" many workmen in the" early 
 times, the sculptor of this statue was not careless when 
 modeling a minor part or an adjunct. The dolphin here has 
 an individuality of its own. It might have been done by the 
 famous animalist Myron, so alive is the creature. There 
 is even a touch of the humorous in its eyes. And how 
 exquisite is the sense of proportion ! The tail reaches just 
 to the right height, beside and a little behind the upper 
 left leg of the figure. The whole mass of the dolphin is 
 so contrived as to give breadth and bulk to the lower part 
 of the composition as a whole, such as draped statues obtain 
 by the fall of a robe. We should imagine the dolphin as 
 once ornamented in tones of silver, green and gold. 
 
 Itis-notewerthy-that thisd0-l|»hin-wa&nev^r-saddled.with 
 oije or more little Cupids, like the sea beast that accom- 
 panies the Mediciv_Note also- that when one regards the 
 Medici frbnTthe back there is a tree trunk and a dolphin 
 ^"■^Ich destroy that beautiful view from the rear so greatly 
 admired in this marble. 
 
 The simplicityofthe^ltoviti compared with the crowded 
 interferenceoBserved in the jVIedici,. speaks ejoqiiently for 
 its originality. Critics who have carefully compared" the 
 two marbles concur in placing the Montalvo-Altoviti far 
 ahead of the Medici in regard to composition, grace and 
 nobility of aspect. 
 
COPY OF THE VENUS OF KNIDOS AT ROME 
 
 Greco-Roman adaptation of the Knidian Aphrodite by Praxiteles. This variant on the Aphrodite 
 by Praxiteles, once in Knidos, Asia-Minor, is in the Vatican. It represents Aphrodite disrobing 
 before Paris to gain the prize. The drapery round the legs is of tin, painted to look like marble. 
 
X 
 
 T3E slight suggestion of Polykleitos in the pose of 
 the Altoviti marble and the archaic traits already 
 mentioned, the ripple marks on the top of the 
 plinth, the square block under the uplifted right 
 heel, the extraordinary beauty of the dolphin, the channel 
 on the upper left arm for a bracelet, the kestos on the right 
 hand, the ears pierced for earrings: these indicate that the 
 sculptor consulted tradition and arranged his statue for dec- 
 oration to suit the demands of idol-worshippers, and sug- 
 gest that it is an early work belonging somewhere between 
 370 and 365 B. c. 
 
 It may..well..be that -the^faj;nou&- Phryne was .the, model 
 forthastatue^ . We know that Praxiteles promised Phryne 
 whichever of his statues she might choose and likewise 
 that she, having the wit to know that his choice would 
 be better than hers, employed stratagem to make sure of 
 obtaining the best. An Eros by Praxiteles which she gave 
 to the temple at Thespiai was still there in the time of 
 Pausanias. Since gifts from Phryne were there in the same 
 temple, an Aphrodite and a portrait statue of herself, 
 probably the Ef ,QS^,.sJQodJjetiyxeJi .tJjSJtjj^^Oe,.^^^ 
 considered a priestess of Aphrodite, there was nothing 
 extraordinafyTn the collocation of^tKe goddess and her 
 riestessrit would havrtreenliiatural that the first attempt 
 y Praxiteles under the inspiration of Phryne's beauty 
 
 f 
 
FOOT OF ALTOVITI APHRODITE 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 109 
 
 should go to Phryne's birthplace and that Phryne herself 
 should offer it. Phryne's life and her relations with Praxi- 
 teles are well known. 
 
 The^clean cut legs of the Altoviti seem to fit the story 
 ^ofPhryne's youth passed in the open air. The feet are not 
 too small; they are made to carry an athletic maiden. 
 Noticeable are the small size of the little toes and the length 
 of the second toe. These are feet that were not constrained. 
 The torso was never distorted by any restraining bands. 
 She is a full-grown woman and yet girlish withal. It is 
 not impossihle that the Aphrodite at Thespiai may have 
 been this particular marble of the Altovitis which found 
 its way to Italy Tas did so many hundred others. 
 
 The suave lines of the shoulders of the Altoviti marble 
 have been greatly admired, and, even more, the exquisite 
 modeling of the lower back. Indeed there can be no back 
 more beautiful; the Melos and the Medici are not com- 
 parable to it in this respect. 
 
 The gesture of the two hands has been the s.ource of 
 frequent errors. To worshippers, from the days of Homer to 
 those of Praxiteles, Aphrodite was a goddess of generation. 
 She had no false modesty to preserve. The expression of the 
 Medici Venus suggests bashfulness and concealment. Quite 
 the contrary, this statue. The goddess gazes serene and 
 unabashed, a deity of generation, revealing herself to 
 mankind. at her birth from the sea, while the two hands 
 indicate by their sovereign sweep inward thetwo great 
 organs of maternity, the womb where man is created and the 
 breast where he is nourished, the majestic gesture of Venus 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE in 
 
 Genetrix. It suggests only calmness, purity and nobility. 
 Surviving examples of ancient sculpture belonging to 
 the best Greek epoch are so few that we must count the 
 advent of the Altoviti Aphrodite to America as rare good 
 fortune. We have proposed in these pages a high origin 
 for^it and belreye^the-attribution-r.e&ts on solid grounds ; but 
 whether Praxiteles fashiqned^^ the statue or not, we surely 
 Jiave^in the "statue"an example of Greek sculpture of the 
 great period and the first excellence. 
 
 
FROM THE METROPOLITAN 
 
 ■ GREEK TERRA COTTA POWDER BOX 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 Page 15. This scene is depicted on an Ionic vase in Munich 
 found in the Etruscan city of Caere. Aphrodite is represented 
 holding the kestos in her left hand. 
 
 Letter from Mr. de Kay to Mr. Bosworth 
 
 "The Altoviti Aphrodite continues to interest me. You remem- 
 ber the kestos — the strap thrown over the right hand, which some 
 people hastily took for a necklace or armlet? You recall that, so 
 far, we have this attribute of Venus in no other marble, although I 
 have found it in the hands of bronze statuettes of Venus in Paris and 
 London. You may also have noted in The Art Worldiox February, 
 1 91 7 (page ZZ^^ ^°^ ^'^ idea of the love-throwing powers of the 
 kestos may have been mixed up with the magic attributed to the 
 root of the mandragora plant, so that the writer, an English pro- 
 fessor, conjectures that in primitive Greece — say before Homer — 
 the women concealed bits of the mandragora inside the kestos 
 which they wore just below the breast ? Well, I have discovered 
 the kestos, this embryo of the girdle and corset, in certain objects 
 at the Metropolitan Museum. One is a painting on a vase from 
 Greece in which Parjs is judging the three goddesses, and Cupid, 
 standing apart with his mother, hands the kestos to Aphrodite. 
 
 The others are Egyptian, not Greek, and show for the thou- 
 sandth time how right Herodotus was in tracing many religious 
 ideas of Greece to an Egyptian origin. Here are portraits of two 
 Egyptian couples, husband and wife, belonging to one of the early 
 
A THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, NEW YORK 
 
 EGYPTIAN RELIEF SHOWING KESTOS IN HAND OF WOMAN 
 
EGYPTiAN"GR6uP SHOWING KESTOS IN LEFT HAND OF WIFE 
 
THE ALTOVITI APHRODITE 121 
 
 dynasties. In each case the wife holds the kestos in her hand. I 
 do not believe that a sculptor of this early period in Egypt would 
 have dared to put that piece of feminine attire in the hands of a 
 woman unless the object had been one of some high religious 
 import. So we find the origin of the magic quality of the Kestos 
 in Egypt very early; and as late as the Ptolemies we see the idea 
 still alive." 
 
This Edition Limited To 500 Copies 
 Of Which This Is Number 
 
THIS BOOK MADE BY 
 
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