For many thousands of years, artists from around the world have attempted to portray the human body in sculpture. The earliest of the three-dimensional images of the human body were the European Venus figures which were carved in ivory or stone. Archaeologist V. Gordon Childe, in his book Man Makes Himself, describes these Venus figurines this way:
“Normally the bodies are excessively fat and the sexual features exaggerated, but the face is left almost blank. It is assumed that such were fertility charms. The generative powers of women would inhere in them, and through them be canalized to provide good for the tribes by ensuring the fertility of game and vegetation.”
The earliest of these figurines is the Hohle Fels carving of a woman with exaggerated breasts and genitalia which is 35,000 years old. Over the millennia artists throughout the world have continue to capture images of the human body in their sculptures. The Portland Art Museum has many examples of this type of art.
According to the display:
“The design for a fountain features Galatea, the most lovely of the Nereids, or sea nymphs, the minor deities who personified the beauty and benevolence of the ocean in Greek mythology.”
According to the display:
“The Polish princess Marie Leszczynska (1703-1768) married King Louis XV in 1725 and became the longest-serving queen consort of France. She is depicted in the guise of Juno, the queen of the Olympian gods, floating on a cloud with a peacock, Juno’s attribute.”