Venus tying the laces on a sandal

Aphrodite tying her sandal off balance was a common theme in sculpture from the time of the final stages of Hellenism as a variation on the Anadiomenes, that is to say the goddess who emerges from the water. We find it transposed to this inlay work on polychrome marble on a slate background, with Palombino marble for the main character, antique yellow for the hair and bracelets, and Serpentine for the pillar. This was a technique known as opus sectile and it yielded excellent results despite the limited amount of colour modulation and shape articulation available, the details being created by etching. This picture was part of a Fourth Style schema and on the wall opposite was a picture of Dionysus. The use of sectilia with pale figurines on a dark background became popular in the times of Claudius and Nero, as attested by Pliny (Nat. Hist. XXXV, 2). Bibliography: S. Aurigemma, in EAA VII, p. 148, s.v. Sectile opus

Fonte: MANN
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