Venus Willendorf: description, size, style. Venus Willendorf 21st Century

Venus Willendorf is considered, as they would say now, the standard of beauty of the Paleolithic era. A small figure depicting a full-bodied woman was found in Austria in 1908. The age of Venus, as scientists suppose, is 24-25 thousand years. It is one of the most ancient cultural objects ever found on Earth.

Paleolithic beauties

Similar statuettes archaeologists began to discover from the middle of last century. All of them depict women with voluminous forms and date from the Upper Paleolithic. The territory on which such finds were made is quite extensive: from the Pyrenees to Siberia. All figurines (the total number of them - several hundred) are united today by the name "Paleolithic Venus". Originally, the name of the ancient Roman goddess of beauty was used as a joke: the figures were too different from the accepted canons of the image of the female body. However, it is fixed and used today everywhere.

Character traits

Venus Willendorf and similar statuettes have a number of parameters that allow them to be combined into one category of art objects. These are magnificent forms, a small head, expressed sexual signs, frequent absence or insignificant study of hands and feet. Many of the figurines have a rhomboid silhouette. The most voluminous part of the figure is the stomach and buttocks. The legs and head are much smaller, as it were, forming the tops of the rhombus.

There is debate among researchers about whether such a structure is an image of real body shapes that are found in some peoples of Africa (steatopygia), or it is an element of the cult of fertility.

Venus Willendorf: description

One of the Paleolithic figurines was discovered near the town of Willendorf in Austria. In 1908 here on the site of the former brick factory excavations were conducted, and now there is a small monument in the form of an enlarged copy of the found figure.

Venus The Villendorf size is very small - only 11 cm. It is a naked woman with an excessively enlarged chest, large buttocks and a bulky belly. The head of Venus, in comparison with the body, is rather small and has no traced features, but it is adorned with carefully crafted ancient braids. The woman's hands are located on a huge chest and also differ in small size, feet are missing.

Age

Today one can meet the claims that Venus Willendorf is the oldest of the images of women found. However, the situation is somewhat different. Venus Willendorf, according to scientists, was created approximately 24-25 thousand years ago. Of course, the age is considerable. However, there are also more ancient figurines: Venus from Hole-Fels (35-40 thousand years), Venus Vestonitskaya (27-30 thousand years).

In addition, at the end of the last century, two figures were found, whose origin is still unclear. If it is proved that they were created by human hands, rather than erosion and weathering, Venus from Tan Tan and Venus from Berehat-Rama will become the most ancient statuettes (300-500 and 230 thousand years old respectively) depicting a woman.

Material

Venus Willendorf is made of oolitic porous limestone. It is interesting that such material does not occur in the locality where the figurine was found. For some time the origin of Venus remained a mystery to researchers. The staff of the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, where the figure is kept today, was able to open the veil of secrecy. Probably limestone was mined near the Czech city of Brno, which is almost 140 km from Villendorf. Here is the Stranskaya Skala, whose limestone massif is very similar in composition to the material of Venus. It remains to be seen whether the figure was made from the city of Brno or from Villendorf, where the material was delivered.

Another interesting point - the statuette was originally covered with red ocher. This fact speaks in favor of the assumption of the ritual purpose of the figure. Most often, ocher was covered with religious objects.

Faceless

The absence of any kind of elaboration of the features of the face also supports this version. In ancient times it was believed that a person is an external expression of personality. Deprived of his figure embody something more than just people. Probably, Venus Willendorf and similar figurines were ritual objects of the cult of fertility, glorifying childbearing, fertility, abundance. The enlarged abdomen and buttocks could also symbolize support and safety.

It should not be forgotten that in the distant past of our ancestors food was not easily earned, and hunger was not uncommon. Therefore, women with lush forms were considered to be full, healthy and rich, capable of giving birth to strong and enduring children.

Perhaps the Paleolithic Venus was the incarnation of the Goddess or used as talismans, attracting luck, symbols of fertility, sustainability, security and the continuation of life. The exact answer about the purpose of the figures, most likely, scientists will never know, since too much time has passed since their appearance and too little evidence of that era is left.

Modern attitude

People who see Venus from Villendorf for the first time react to it in different ways. Someone it causes genuine admiration as a symbol of freedom from today's stereotypes of female beauty (Barbie doll, 90-60-90 and so on). Sometimes Venus is even called the symbol of the feminine essence. Someone at the sight of the figure frankly frightened by the image because of its unusualness. In a word, as in the case of most of the most valuable works of art, Venus Willendorf, whose style of construction is inherent in all Paleolithic figurines, evokes the most controversial emotions.

For some contemporary artists, it is a source of inspiration. One of the results of the creative processing of the image was the so-called Venus Wilendorf 21st century - a statue 4.5 meters high, the work of one of the graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts in Riga. Like the prototype, it received an ambiguous reaction of critics and ordinary public.

The fact that Venus of Willendorf is one of the oldest works of art, a witness of a bygone era, remains indisputable. It helps to penetrate for a moment into the distant past, to realize how changing the norms and ideals of beauty, how deeply rooted the roots of the culture we are familiar today. Like everything strange and unusual against the backdrop of an established way of life and thinking, she calls to look at herself and the story a little from a different angle, doubt the truth of beliefs and dogmas, let in creative inspiration and get rid of the deceased and stale.