Venus Of Willendorf: Sculptural Artifact

For example, during one of our earliest cultures, the Paleolithic period, the Women of Willendorf sculpture portrays a grossly heavy female figure representing fertility and beauty of being

In Furs for Evening, But Cloth Was the Stone Age Standby, Natalie Angier reveals how a recent reinterpretation of the Venus statues may change our idea of what life was like for women during the Stone Age. Traditionally, most people think of the Stone Age woman as gatherers who wore animal pelts and who lived without creature comforts like cloth. Previous anthropological interpretations introduced that the Venus statutes were made by men for men. Intricate clothing patterns found on the statues, however, suggest that this might be very different from what actually happened. The presence of detailed clothing suggests that the “String Revolution” occurred during, if not long before, the Paleolithic Era. With this kind of technology, people were

The Woman of Willendorf figure, which was revealed in Austria and it is so small that it measures about 4.5 inches in height (Haarmann 62). This piece is between 25,000 and 30,000 years old which makes it amongst one of the initial pieces of art revealed and an image of fertility. The work was imprinted from limestone with indication that some method of paint pigment was then added

The Venus of Willendorf can be a considered a landmark of the Paleolithic Era for various reasons. For one, it is not native to its land. It is unknown as to where it was originally created. Whenever it was found in 1908 researchers discovered that the statue was made of a type of limestone that was not native to that area, which led them to conclude that it had been brought to that particular area. Secondly, some experts believe that the statue gives a clear indication of what the people of that time worshiped. Some researches found that many people during the time worshiped the Venus of Willendorf as a fertility goddess.

The Venus of Willendorf is a sculpture that was sculpted out of limestone and stands to be 4 ½’’ tall. The figurine was most likely carved out of limestone because early pre-historic artists generally had to create art out of whatever materials they had available. The figurine is only 4 ½” tall is because it was common for pre-historic artists to carve small, hand held, portable figurines. The sculpture was found on the banks of the Danube River, an area where pre-historic hunter-gatherers were thought to have lived and traded goods with other civilians. The use of this piece of artwork is to portray the importance of women and fertility in pre-historic times because these features are ones that ensured the survival and future of mankind.

The title of this piece is “Torso of Aphrodite/Venus”. This piece was discovered outside of Rome in 1771. Afterwards, it was purchased by a wealthy English collector, who displayed it in his home. Today, the piece resides at the

The Venus of Willendorf was found in 1908 by a workman named “Johann Veran” (Selen). It was found by archeologists at a Paleolithic site. Here at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, we have the only authentic Venus Figurine (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien). The artifact’s purpose is still being speculated by many. But from what I can infer, the figurine was used a a maternal figure, and it shows the richness of female fertility.

The Mazarin Venus at the Getty has been restored extensively. Scholars believe the head actually belonged to another ancient statue. Nevertheless, it is still a beautiful piece that demonstrates how the ancients viewed their gods. Venus has a beautifully proportioned and shapely figure. She has a lovely face, also classically proportioned, that is framed by curls. Her hair cascades down her back and falls over one shoulder. She gazes off to the side. She is graceful and elegant, showing herself with neither boldness nor undue modesty. She represents the female ideal of her times. Her beauty mirrors the beauty of love. The Greek sculptor who originally created the figure and the Roman sculptor who copied it did

The Venus of Willendorf is not the only sculpture from the Paleolithic era to survive the millennia. Other images have survived and many of them are similar to the Venus of Willendorf. The existence of these other sculptures of like design found from France to Siberia is very interesting. More figurines reflecting the female form have been found than of the male form leading experts to suggest that the Paleolithic societies may have been based on a matriarchal society (Witcombe, sec. 4).

The sculptures and paint show details how society viewed and interpreted women body, sexuality, and maternity. In addition, revealed that these women were protected from threats around them with ornaments. Civilizations since early times, believed that we were in permanent threat from forces we do not see or cannot explain and because of it, we protected ourselves with artificial elements in a form of jewelry, crowns or caps. This idea has been continue from one generation to the next to the point that in modern societies some of us still use this type of protection in our bodies (e.g., small cross, divine images, tattoos, etc.).These pieces of art also indicate that humans believed in gods with superpowers and they are looking over us constantly. Humanity also believes in dark forces or demons trying to makes us do things that would upset the good gods. Some of the differences between these sculptures and paint are the material in which each one of them were created. The first figure, the Woman of Willendorf was carved in limestone, the second piece, the portrait of Queen Tiye was carved in wood and the last piece, the Virgin and Child Icon was created of tempera on a wood. You can also notice how the details on their faces and bodies changes throughout the time and years. The woman of Willendorf figurine offers details of a voluptuous nude women’s body but there is not face, or feet. Queen Tiye statue shows the face of a woman in detail closed to the gods but without any body parts and lastly The Virgin and Child Icon, is an expression of divinity of the views, reflections and beliefs from the gospel. Because communities started to innovate on the art of carving and painting, populations began to discover and/or create art with the objective of expressing different purposes of our daily lives, such as the beauty of a woman’s body, or to commemorate an ancient

The Isenheim Altarpiece was made by Matthias Grunewald. It took many years to complete the isenheim Altarpiece. Grunwald actually went off of someone else work and built from their work to create his own. These painting in the Isenheim Altarpiece are references to things that have happened in the Bible.

During the Upper Paleolithic era artists created a wide range of small sculptures. These sculptures were made from various materials, including ivory, bone, clay, and even stone. They represented humans, as well as animals; they even combined them at times. Most of the sculptures from this time show a high level of skill. From this time, there were two very influential sculptures, The Venus of Willendorf and the Venus of Laussel. This paper will discuss both sculptures, in detail, as well as, compare and contrast them.

The authors’ interpretation of archaeological evidence is more easily compared since both reference female pillar figurines. Meyers highlights that these replicas are overwhelmingly found in domestic settings, abundant, and are only of pregnant women or those in lactation. Given this evidence, Meyers argues that these figurines were used as a vessel to bring a mother blessings during her pregnancy, birth, and lactation (Meyers 2002, 286-287). Sommer evaluates the terracottas from a different angle, using their existence as a way to challenge his idea that monotheism was prevalent in Ancient Israelite society. Like Meyers, Sommer believes that the figurines serve as a “tangible prayer” for soon-to-be or new mothers used overwhelmingly in homes. He goes on to refute that they were representations of goddesses by quoting Meyers’ evidence which claimed that goddess

Sculpture: Very few of their sculptures are around today, but the most famous is the Woman of Willendorf, which is thought to have a connection to fertility.

The Venus of Willendorf is said to be the first masterpiece of world sculptures. It belongs to a series of Venus figurines of the Paleolithic period or “Old Stone Age.” This period was characterized by crude stone and bone weapons, cave paintings, and sculptures. The Venus was found in a small village of Austria called Willendorf, hence the name of the Venus. This groundbreaking discovery was made in 1908 by the archaeologist Josef Szombathy. However, it was not until 1990 when we were able to predict the time when the sculpture was carved. It is believed to have been made between 25,000 B.C.E and 20,000 B.C.E. The sculpture is only 4,4 inches tall and it is made of oolitic limestone, which is a carbonate rock commonly found in India, around the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean Islands, but not Austria. Therefore, archeologists believe that this sculpture was moved from its original place of creation. Continuing with that idea, because of the fact that the sculpture does not have defined feet so it is not able to stand and that it is small and malleable, historians believe that it was originally made to be carried around as a talisman or a sign of good luck, especially for fertility purposes. It is important to notice how the structure of this sculpture highlights some human features (breasts, belly, hips, vulva) while minimizing others, such as arms and legs. The Venus represents the first aesthetic ideas of our early history, which has