Venus with Apple

Bertel Thorvaldsen was accepted to the Royal Danish Academy of Art at the age of eleven. Eventually his extraordinary talent was recognized with a stipend to travel to Rome to continue his education. In Rome, he made a name for himself as a sculptor working in the neoclassical style. Motifs for his works (reliefs, statues, and busts) were drawn mostly from Greek mythology. His patrons resided all over Europe and included Pop Pius VII, Napoleon, and many of the royal families of Europe.

Upon his return to Denmark in 1838, Thorvaldsen was received as a national hero. He was awarded major commissions, the best known of which are the sculptures of Christ and the Apostles in the cathedral, the Church of Our Lady, in Copenhagen.

Venus with Apple is based on the Greek myth in which Zeus asked Paris of Troy to decide who the fairest goddess was. His choice was Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. This sculpture depicts Venus after the beauty contest. With one hand she grips her clothes from the tree stump to put them back on. With the other she holds the token of beauty, an apple, up to her admiring gaze.