Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Aphrodite and the Gods of Love


 Her time has come!
 A spectacular homage to Goddess Aphrodite is currently running at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston:


I am enchanted by such synchronicities that keep coming, only to remind me that our mission to reveal the magnitude of this deity is supported by forces greater than we think possible. She does move in mysterious ways!

Here is the synopsis of the publication accompanying the exhibition:

"The most enticing of the ancient divinities, Aphrodite also remains the most enigmatic. Worshipped and celebrated, she has been depicted in ways both ethereal and everyday: it was with her image that Praxiteles introduced the female nude into Western art. As an icon of female sexuality, Aphrodite’s effigy has graced everything from ancient temples to modern cosmetics labels. The ancients, knowing that love conquers all, considered her mightier than Herakles. Aphrodite and the Gods of Love presents, for the first time, a comprehensive and scholarly appreciation of the love deity. Through 158 marble sculptures, painted vases, statuettes of terracotta and precious metal, mosaics, and gems, the book traces the early worship of Aphrodite  as a fertility figure in the Near East, her emergence as love goddess for the Greeks, and her eventual adaptation by Rome as Venus. It highlights the myths surrounding this emblem of sensuality, notably those concerning seduction and marriage, and presents the circle of her lovers and her children, Eros, Hermaphrodite, and Priapos. Aphrodite and the Gods of Love is a feast for the eye and a celebration of desire." 
by Christine Kondoleon with Phoebe C. Segal



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