STATUE GROUP OF VENUS PUDICA AND EROS White marble with a yellow ochre patina. Deposits. H. 36 cm Imperial Roman art, 2nd–3rd centuries AD, based on a Hellenistic prototype Provenance Former collection of Mr R.G., southern France, acquired at Hôtel Drouot Private collection in southern France, acquired from the previous owner Headless statuette depicting a nude, curvaceous Aphrodite. The goddess holds a fold of drapery that wraps around her hips and falls down to her feet. Her left side is flanked by a support adorned with a dolphin ridden by Eros — a marine attribute alluding to the goddess’s birth from the sea foam. The surface shows concretions and an excavation patina; the bust is fractured, and the head and left arm are missing. For similar iconography, see S. Reinach, *Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine*, p. 115, no. 2 (Rome, Orto Botanico, fig. 1)