Aphrodite, goddess of love, is the subject of this statue, a Roman replica of an earlier Greek work. Battered and discolored as it now is, it still preserves the grace it must have had when it was whole. Aphrodite is standing, shifting her weight onto her left leg. This subtle movement fills the body with animation, as though she were about to step forward. She wears a thin dress that shows almost every contour beneath. The revealing cloth clings to her thighs. One breast is covered and the other is bare, but you see there is little difference between them.

Not all of Aphrodite's clothes are so thin as to be transparent. Walk around to her left and look at the heavy folds that fall from her arm. These must belong to a mantle she wore over her gossamer linen dress and held up behind her right shoulder.

Aphrodite looks at once both dressed and nude, seductive and appropriate. Her bare left breast may be an indication of motherhood as a consequence of lovemaking. The sensuality of the figure fits the character of Aphrodite, who stands for all the feminine aspects of love.