“Aphrodite and the Gods of Love”: A Scholarly Appreciation of the Earthy Love Deity

"Aphrodite and The Gods of Love"

The curators of the MFA scoured the museum's vast collection of Greek art and artifacts and borrowed a few from Italy to assemble this comprehensive exhibit that considers the social, cultural, and religious effect Aphrodite has had on western art since the eighth century BC. The display doesn't have the  warm and fleshy impact of "Degas and The Nude," now on display in the museum's Art of The Americas Wing, but it does make a powerful statement showing the long shadow Aphrodite, her Roman counterpart Venus, and their extended families cast over the region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Narratives of love, lust, revenge, murder, infidelities, seductions, feuds? Regional versions of Aphrodite were in the middle of them.

Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
October 9, 2011 - February 5, 2012

NOTE:
Wednesdays after 4 pm, admission is by voluntary contribution (suggested donation $22. pt at large says support the arts, pay what it's worth to you. And...your General Admission ticket includes one free repeat visit within 10 days!) 

Maybe we can blame our fascination with the Kardashians on Aphrodite. Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart Venus had the effect of an explicit reality show on cultures around the Mediterranean since the legend of Aphrodite was created in the eighth century BC. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition "Aphrodite and The Gods of Love" shows that the ancients had a good appetite for sexual drama.

If you think Kim’s marriage to Kris created a stir, think about the fact that when a sculptor in Turkey got around to carving a statue of an entirely nude Aphrodite in the fourth century BC it was, according to the label in the MFA, the “first monumental female nude in western art history.” The western world of art was changed forever.

Until the third century AD, images of Aphrodite and Venus were created for public and private consumption alike. One of the artifacts of Aphrodite on display in the museum’s Torf Gallery was displayed centuries ago in the garden of a Greek baker. You want juicy gossip? Aphrodite was the daytime soap opera for Mediterranean cultures for centuries. She coupled lustily, occasionally deviously, with mortals and immortals alike providing us with Eros (Cupid), with Ares, Hermaphrodite, with Hermes, Priapos, god of garden fertility, with Dionysus, Zeus or Adonis, take your pick.  Then there was Phobos, the god of panic, Pothos, the god of sexual longing and her mortal son Aeneas, who founded Rome. She was Ms. Flagrante Delecto for centuries. The MFA exhibit explores her legend with the prurient curiosity of a highbrow TMZ.

The collection of about 160 marble sculptures, painted vases, mosaics, gems, statuettes made of terracotta and precious metals, traces Aphrodite’s history from her conception in a foamy sea in the Near East all around the Mediterranean region to Italy and Rome. Most of the artwork is from the MFA world-class collection. The rest are on loan from Rome and Naples. Every artifact and sculpture is labeled and connected to others in the same display.

Aphrodite had a brand that would make the Kardashians drool.  One of the biggest surprises is that earrings, medallions, and pendants with Aphrodite’s image were worn as accessories in ancient times. J Lo, LeBron James, Lady Gaga and a ton of other quite mortal celebrities have Aphrodite to thank for the idea of product endorsements. After Aphrodite was created, we didn’t break her mold. We commercialized it.

Aphrodite’s vibrant image has retained her sensual allure for centuries. We have Aphrodite to acknowledge or blame for our obsession with youth and beauty. In real life, we know that beauty is evanescent and every perfectly proportioned, long legged model in the Victoria’s Secret catalogue will some day be replaced by a younger model. Aphrodite never aged. We will.

The universal emotions of love and lust and the magic or destruction they can unleash are embodied in our fascination with Aphrodite and brilliantly chronicled in “Aphrodite and the Gods of Love.” Every observer, no matter what age, has a common denominator with the all too human aspect of this captivating Greek goddess.

Photos courtesy of MFA website

 

Comments

[Ann Baker]

I've got tickets to see this. Will let you know what I saw and how I felt. Have no idea when I'll be going.

[Paul Tamburello aka pt at large]

Excellent ... I know I can count on you for a candid response!

[Carole Blossom]

Interesting comparison bringing the Greek art into modern day drama and the human eros which remains ever constant regardless of which century we humans inhabit. Some things never change?
Except the art form which, for me, is so much more lovely depicted by the Greeks in 8th century a la Aphrodite.

[Paul Tamburello]

well, our interest in the erotic seems to be embedded in our DNA, doesnt it?
I'm not sure which Greek art you refer to but the Greeks set the bar for sculpture for centuries.

[May Louise White]

Most interesting!