Introduction
Venus of Willendorf is a creation of art, which was discovered on 7th August 1908, by Johann Veran. The artwork was discovered in Willendorf village in the Lower Austria. Artwork can be defined as a creation which involves the application of skills, imitation or beautification to painting, sculpture or architecture with the aim of conveying some particular information about a people, belief or culture. Just like many other arts, Venus of Willendorf, a picture of a nude woman, provides some basic meaning which even though archaeologists are still unsure of, they can be derived by observing the structural features. This article, therefore, aims to give the possible descriptions of the artwork by looking at the physical and visual characteristics (Heath, 2014).
The age of the sculptor cannot be precisely determined because it was made using an oolitic limestone which is not local to the region it was found in. The estimation is that the figurine was made between 28,000 and 25,000 BCE. The name Venus of Willendorf, having the meaning of a goddess of love was given to the structure after the Roman goddess of love and ideal beauty (Heath, 2014).
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Looking at the art, it depicts a naked woman, with emphasis on some body parts than the others. The first noticeable characteristic is the size of the carving. It is 11.1 centimeters, a size that can easily fit the palms of the hand or the pocket. The size means that it could easily be carried around by whoever made it so that whenever he/she wanted to move, due to the pastoralist nature of the ancient people of that region, the art could easily be carried around. The second characteristic is on the emphasis of the childbearing parts which include the breasts and pubic region. The archaeologists suggest that the emphasis is meant to show a picture of a fertile woman who could give birth to children and nurse them (winters, 2015). In the pubic region, there can be seen traces of red ochre pigment which is deliberately put to show the signs of previous births.
Emphasis is, however, less on the non-productive parts of the sculptor. For example, the hands are tucked into the upper part of the breast, and the fingers are not visible. Also looking at the feet, they are so small and not structured meaning that the sculptor was not meant to stand on its own. The structure also lacks the facial structures like the nose, eyes, ears or the mouth. Instead, there are seven horizontal bands that crown the head region. Some scholar argues that the visible bands are part of a hat that has been pulled down to obscure the facial part (winters, 2015). Others also argue that the lack of the facial characteristics signifies the lack of mirrors in the ancient days, an argument that has been criticized because even the waters could have served the purpose of a mirror.
Meanings of Visual Elements and Connections to the Contemporary Culture
Having looked at the visible characteristics of the sculptor, some meanings and cultural deductions can be made from the visual structures. The name itself represents a goddess of love which shows a woman who cares for her children and nourishes them. Together with the over-representation of the childbearing parts, we get a picture of the mother of a community whose primary role was to feed her children and provide the family care for her people ( Cintra, Modolin, Rocha & Gemperli, 2016) .
Another interpretation is derived from the absence of the masculine structures and the poorly made feet. The possible meaning is that the structure was not made to stand on its own, just like the role of a woman in the ancient culture of the land where the primary role of the woman was to give birth to and care for the children, but the security came from the men. The absence of a properly formed face also shows just the general outlook of a woman, with no particular specific person in mind. Some archaeologists believe that the work might have been done by a woman who wanted to appreciate the role of all the women and their importance in the society during the days. Just like the other artworks, the Venus of Willendorf serves the purpose of telling us about the ancient lives and culture through the numerous visual characteristics it possesses (winters, 2015).
References
Cintra, W., Modolin, M., Rocha, R. I., & Gemperli, R. (2016). Circumferential Abdominoplasty. In Aesthetic Plastic Surgery of the Abdomen (pp. 153-170). Springer, Cham.
Heath, C. (2014). Pictorial essay A: Out of sight, but not out of mind. Sculpture and Touch , 71.
Winters, R. (2015). Ancient dogu figurines with large goggle-eyes defy scholarly explanation.
