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Venus Landolina

Venus Landolina is a Roman marble sculpture from the first half of the period, preserved in the Paolo Orsi Regional Archaeological Museum in Syracuse. The Roman sculptor created an original figure by departing from a model close to the Pudica Aphrodite, itself derived from Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos. The statue is thought to represent a Venus Anadyomene, emerging from the waters, symbolized by a dolphin, and modestly covering herself with a drapery held in her left hand. Her right arm is missing, and the figure leaves her legs, back, and buttocks exposed. The work takes its name from archaeologist Saverio Landolina, who discovered it in 1804 in a nymphaeum in Syracuse’s Acradina district.

Venus Landolina, a headless white marble female statue with a missing right arm, holding drapery over her lower body.
Venus Landolina shown as a headless marble statue with one arm missing and drapery gathered modestly at the hips.
July 2014 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Headless marble Venus Landolina statue with one arm missing, draped cloth around her lower body, standing on a pedestal with an information plaque.
Venus Landolina, a headless marble statue shown on a pedestal in the museum.
November 2014 © · Attribution
Venus Landolina, a headless marble female statue with one arm missing and drapery covering the lower body.
Venus Landolina, shown as a headless marble female statue with missing arm and draped lower body.
July 2023 © · CC0
Venus Landolina marble statue seen from behind, with a nude upper body, draped lower half, and a partial dolphin at the base.
Venus Landolina shown from the back, with its draped lower body and partial dolphin support visible.
June 2025 © · CC0
Venus Landolina marble statue standing on a dark pedestal in a museum gallery.
Venus Landolina displayed on a pedestal in a modern museum room.
November 2014 © · Attribution

Identification

TitleVenus Landolina
Alternative namesVenus of Syracuse; Aphrodite Landolina; Syracuse Venus
TypeRoman marble sculpture

Historical context

DateRoman copy, probably 2nd century AD; date disputed, with some sources suggesting Julio-Claudian or Flavian production

Creator

AttributionProbably a Roman workshop copy or adaptation of a Greek original, ultimately derived from Praxiteles' Aphrodite of Cnidus
Original modelLost Greek original, probably from the 2nd or 1st century BC; some sources instead describe it as an unpreserved 4th-century BC original by Praxiteles

Discovery and provenance

Attempted transferPrince di Cutò, the governor-general, requested that it be moved to Palermo, but this did not happen
Public reactionThe discovery attracted great interest throughout Sicily
Discovery locationA nymphaeum in Orti Bonavia (later Giardino Spagna), Syracuse, near the present civic hospital Umberto I
Discovery date7 January 1804
DiscovererSaverio Landolina Nava
Associated findsFragments of columns and other architectural remains were found with the statue

Physical characteristics

ConditionHeadless; part of the right arm is missing; the left arm is assembled from several parts; the body has some defects
PoseRight leg bent and advanced; weight on the left leg
Nudity and draperyThe figure is nude except for a drapery held by the left hand, which covers the pubic area and reveals the legs
Missing featuresThe right arm is missing; the left arm survives but is partly reconstructed; the purpose of the marble protrusion on the left shoulder is unclear

Materials

MaterialMarble

Iconography and meaning

Iconographic lineageThe iconography ultimately derives from Praxiteles' Aphrodite of Cnidus
ComparisonsCompared with the Capitoline Venus and the Venus de' Medici
Iconographic typeVenus Anadyomene, or Venus pudica
Artistic qualitiesNaturalistic yet idealized rendering of the naked female body
SubjectVenus/Aphrodite
Symbolic elementA dolphin symbolizing the water

Location and ownership

Current locationPaolo Orsi Regional Archaeological Museum, Syracuse
Heritage statusPart of the Immovable Heritage of the Region of Sicily, added on 27 June 2013

History and restoration

Maupassant's descriptionHe described it as beautiful, headless, missing one arm, and both real and symbolic, contrasting it with the Venus de Milo
State at Maupassant's visitRecently rediscovered
Later receptionGuy de Maupassant saw the statue during his 1885 trip to Sicily and described it in Voyage en Sicile / Viaggio in Sicilia
Early display locationThe archiepiscopal palace of Syracuse, now the Paolo Orsi Archaeological Museum

Significance

Historical significanceIts emphasis on the idealized female body pushed the goddess's earlier sacred meanings into the background

Other

Ancient testimonyLucian of Samosata said there was a temple in Syracuse dedicated to the pagan deity before the 2nd century
Related worksAphrodite of the Capitol; Venus de' Medici; a variant preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens under the name Aphrodite of Syracuse
Known copiesSeveral copies are known, including a later complete head copy in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Head copy hairstyleThe Athens head copy has a hairstyle identical to that of the Capitoline Venus
Associated reconstruction hypothesisArt historians suggest the missing right arm was bent at the elbow and the hand covered the left breast, based on marble protrusions on the body and left breast
Associated objectRemains of a lost dolphin are presumably near the left leg
Unclear featureThe purpose of the marble protrusion on the left shoulder remains unclear