I really enjoyed learning about the Venus of Willendorf and her story as well as the many theories that were brought up. Her story really stuck with me and now that the statues of the Cycladic women have been brought up in our lectures, my interest has been struck again because of the major similarities that the Venus of Willendorf and the statues of the Cycladic women share. They are similar yet very different in many ways but one can still infer that the statues have a similar meaning and one might have influenced the other.
Discovered early on in the Aegean area were stylized statues of men and women. These statues were found to be representations of the Cycladic people and more of these statues represented women. Structurally, the statues are very simple and abstract. None of them contain faces, hiding their identity. They all have extended feet so that they are standing on their toes which could mean that they are meant to lay down. The figures of women all have a slight curve in the abdomen area, giving them the appearance of a stomach. They are also given slight curves on their chest, creating the appearance of breasts. Across their chests, resting upon their stomach, are their arms as if to cover up their breasts. These statues are very interesting because they hide so much meaning within them and they also relate to another very prominent statue, The Venus of Willendorf.
When comparing the two statues, there are some very obvious features that they share. They both lack faces, keeping their identity hidden or maybe making it so that it is not the center of attention. Both of the statues have emphasis on two prominent areas related to reproduction such as the breasts and the belly. The emphasis in these areas lead to the theories of these statues representing fertility and reproduction. Both of their feet are extended with their toes facing down so that they are unable to stand. They both hide their meanings leading to many different theories as to why they were created in the first place.
While both of the statues have pretty big similarities, they also have many differences. While the Venus of Willendorf portrays a larger and more immodest woman, these Cycladic statues of women are portrayed as being the opposite. They appear to have a thinner shape, they have emphasis on their breasts and stomach yet not as much as Venus, and they are also much taller than Venus standing at twenty-five inches where as Venus stands at about four inches. The Cycladic statue shows a more modest woman in the fact that her arms are crossed, covering up her breasts. She is representing the original Venus statue more because the original statue would pose in a way to cover up her breasts and torso area.
Both statues have their own individual characteristics that are different from one another but still support their theory of representing reproduction. The Venus of Willendorf also contains a large torso area. The areas that seem to matter to reproduction are all very emphasized on the Venus of Willendorf's body making her look ideal for child baring. The statue of the Cycladic woman was discovered to have once been painted. One theory for these paint marks was that they were used to draw attention to certain areas where people needed healing power of some sort. In the Cycladic woman's case, the paint would be on her stomach drawing attention to a fertile area on her body. The paint could have also represented that she was already pregnant.
A lot of the evidence and theories given to both the Venus of Willendorf and the the statues of the Cycladic women lead to them being representations of reproduction. Because of their similarities, it seems as if this theory gets a little closer to becoming a fact. The similarities also lead us to believe that the Venus of Willendorf, from the prehistoric age, influenced the creation of the statues of the Cycladic women later on.
Good thoughts! You may also remember from the Witcombe reading that the Venus of Willendorf was once covered with red ochre pigment. This is another interesting comparison, since the Cycladic figurines have traces of paint.
ReplyDelete-Prof. Bowen
It is so interesting to think that one piece of art could have influenced a whole new series of arts. One little statuette could have paved the way. But there is also the possibility that woman or society in general were thinking about fertility on a daily basis, if this is indeed what these figurines represent. Maybe not so much for the Aegean people (way more for the Aegean people than for today's society) but for the prehistoric people it was a great deal of worry in their lives. Because not only was it a wonderful moment it was the continuation of their people.
ReplyDeleteIt's so fascinating to me that there are multiple little statues spanned so far apart geologically and chronologically, but still having the same pose even if physical appearance, standards or values change. This connection is almost like Ancient Egyptian art, where there was a set tendency for so long. If somehow the first statuette directly influenced the others, there may be some missing link between all these cultures!
ReplyDeleteOr maybe there is some instinctual reason for so many artists to utilize the same pose. There are too many possibilities for me to handle.
I cannot really agree with you more that both the two statues are representing production in certain time period. It is indeed that the two statues shared similar characteristic. However, they still representing the two different time periods. Just as you had pointed out that the statues of the Cycladic is more modest than the Venus of Willendorf which we can view as the differences between the two time periods.
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