Venus drying herself 1565 - 1608

Curator: Here we have Giambologna's "Venus Drying Herself," a bronze sculpture created sometime between 1565 and 1608. It resides here at the SMK, the Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: It's beautiful, possessing this delicate yet dignified air. The elongated proportions feel deliberately stylized. There's a poised asymmetry in the figure. Curator: Precisely. It is a prime example of Mannerist sculpture. Notice how Giambologna plays with the serpentine figure, or figura serpentinata, a defining feature of the style. The twisting pose encourages the viewer to circulate the work, offering a different perspective from every angle. It demands movement and interaction. Editor: True, the drapery enhances that movement. But there's also this very specific depiction of idealised female form – clearly referencing classical ideals but with a certain artificiality imposed on top. I mean, who gets dry like this? Where does she have a shower and dry? Curator: I think what’s interesting about this figure is less about the location where she dries herself but the context within which art of the female nude circulated, and how the commercial and intellectual appreciation of nudes reflected and shaped power dynamics in European courts and society. Its presence in a collection acted as signifier of status. Editor: Yes, the collecting aspect is absolutely crucial. We’re in a moment of tremendous social change. Sculptures like this aren’t just beautiful objects; they’re participating in forming and solidifying the structures and value systems of a rapidly shifting society. How interesting! I focused solely on form at first, not realizing there was so much history embedded in the bronze. Curator: Indeed, considering that helps us realize that art offers formal solutions that, if read socially and historically, offer even more rewarding interpretations of the moment they existed in, as well as their afterlives.