★ Praxiteles' Cnidian Aphrodite ★

CARIA. Cnidus. Caracalla, with Plautilla, 198-217. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 31 mm, 12.09 g, 12 h), 202-205. [AY K M A ANTΩ]NIN[OC] / [ΦOYPBIA ΠΛΑΥΤΙΛ] Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Caracalla, on the left, facing draped bust of Plautilla, on the right. Rev. KNI[ΔΙΩN] Praxiteles' Cnidian Aphrodite, covering her nudity and holding drapery that falls behind amphora, standing front, head to right. BMC -. Gorny & Mosch 207 (2012), 494. SNG Copenhagen -. SNG München -. SNG von Aulock -. Very rare. Spot of corrosion on the obverse, otherwise, good fine.

From a Swiss collection, formed before 2005 (with old collector's ticket).

This interesting issue shows Praxiteles' Cnidian Aphrodite, credited as being the first statue to show the body of a Greek goddess in the nude. The story goes that the arist was commissioned by the Coans to sculpt the statue, but upon seeing that the goddess was nude, the Coans refused to display it, and it was purchased by the Cnidians instead. In Cnidus, the sculpture was housed in a temple which still stands today, and it quickly developed into a prime tourist attraction, noted for arousing the passions of its male visitors. Although the original is now lost, Cnidus' coins, along with the many copies made throughout the Graeco-Roman period, give us an impression of what the statue must have looked like.