This 25,000 year old oolitic limestone statue even today remains a complete mystery to the historians who study it. Of particular interest is that oolitic Limestone is not local to the Krems area of Austria. The Venus received her name from the region in Austria where the small statue was excavated. What makes the statue so unique to art historians is the fact that it is the first of its kind to display such details.
No one is totally sure where this miniature Venus came from or even if it was intended to actually represent a goddess or artists loved one. Past speculations as to the purpose of the statue have leaned towards its use as a fertility symbol due to the enlarged abdomen and breasts as well as the detail provided for the vulva. With no visible face readily available the Venus has her head bent downward revealing her many rows of braided hair.
The carved figurine is small enough to hold in the palm of your hand being a mere 4 3/8 inches in height and is a natural red ochre color. In its simplest form the figure appears as an older, round shaped obese women with her slender arms resting upon her over size belly and breasts. The woman displays rather large buttocks and very pronounced genitalia.
Here we have a statue devised within a vertical plane while providing a close approximation of symmetry as revealed in conjunction with its many curved shapes. As a combination of various spheres it offers us a glimpse into a pure three-dimensional adventure or as our textbook aptly implies "a sculpture in the round". The lack of color and the neutral mono-color conveys a serious look to the statue. Her small physical size contrasts the perceived impression of strength conveyed by her rough, grainy texture due to the material used in its manufacture.
When viewing this statue one perceives the impression that the women may already have experienced childbirth. Although she appears to be standing she possesses no featured feet and is incapable of standing by itself. Her head is slightly bowed which tends to hide her face but her flowing hair, if that is what it is, appears prominently displayed. A close review of this hair could lead one to speculate that it is more of a headband rather than hair since it appears as multiple concentric bands which proceed to encircle the Venus's head. Another popular opinion rests upon the premises that it is a hat of some sort which has been pulled over the ladies head. The overall indication from the statue shows a natural indentation within the rock where the navel appears while the overall effect shows a backward sexual posture.
In either case it appears that the intent of the artist was to clearly hide the face. Perhaps in the creator's imagination the face was of a goddess who must not be seen by human eyes. Actually it seemed as if the statues arms, feet and facial features were unimportance. Most of the emphasis was placed upon the sexual characteristics of the statue such as associated with the breasts, the buttocks and the stomach. Emphasize was placed upon them by the artistic exaggeration of their relative size.
A complete review of the statue reveals a remarkable understanding of muscles and how they compliment various parts of the body. The artist who created the Venus fully understood the value of the body's curves as he crafted them harmoniously with the muscles.
There have been many hypotheses as to the reason for the Venus to be created. One individual has stated that it may have been a self portrait while another has contributed the statue to a possible mushroom cult in view of the shape of these units. Some experts believe that she may have played a ritual role in some sort of religious beliefs. As a conclusion I would like at this time to provide my own interruption of the Venus statue. Since it is of a portable nature and there has been very few toys that have been discovered during this era. perhaps it was a toy intended to inspire the play of young female children. Since women were often perceived as the givers of life since they possessed the power to create and sustain life possibly the toy was a way of teaching formable minds in what their role would be as they got older.
In reference to similar works of art reflective of the same era I feel this item displays greater attention to detail than most. The excellent manner in which the artist has projected his major points is immediately noticed by the exaggerated proportions. As a Paleolithic sculpture it is likely the best example of its time and location.
