File:Crouching Aphrodite, 1st–2nd century AD, from Sainte-Colombe, Isère (France), Louvre Museum (7462792456).jpg

Aphrodite is shown going about her toilette, probably pouring water over the nape of her neck while supporting the weight of her body on her left knee. The motif combines the tradition of representing Aphrodite in the nude, known since the time of Praxiteles in the 4th century BC, with the more complex compositions of the Hellenistic period (3rd–2nd century BC) . The generous folds of flesh caused by the goddess’s posture are rendered with great sensuousness. According to one interpretation of Pliny the Elder’s description of the Portico of Octavius (Natural History, XXXV, 35), the Roman artist was copying a lost Greek original of a “Crouching Aphrodite”, possibly in bronze, dating from the 3rd century BC and attributed to Doidalsas of Bithynia.

The small hand on Aphrodite’s back is all that remains of an Eros; the latter figures in other Roman replicas, but it is not known whether he formed part of the original Greek sculpture or was added later by copyists.

Former Gerantet Collection Purchased in 1878