Capitoline Venus, copy of Venus by Praxiteles

Image: Capitoline Venus (after the Aphrodite of Cnidus), a marble sculpture belonging to Roman artwork of the Imperial Era (2nd century CE), from Anzio, Italy, located at Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Sully, ground floor, room 17, Louvre Museum, Paris, France.

Praxiteles of Athens was the most renowned of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BC. It is widely believed that Praxiteles was the first to sculpt the nude female form as a life-size statue. While no unquestionably attributable sculpture by Praxiteles is in existence, numerous copies of his works have survived. The Thespian courtesan Phryne is believed to be his beautiful model, and a speculated relationship between Praxiteles and the model has inspired works of art ranging from painting (Gerome) to shadow puppetry.