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25 Venus

Giovanni Antonio da Brescia was an Italian engraver who produced many prints based on ancient sculptures. Prints of ancient sculptures produced by da Brescia and Marcantonio Raimondi had an immense influence, being used throughout Europe as models for depicting human figures. This print depicts a statue of Venus that was discovered in Rome in 1509 and is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu. Rather than faithfully reproducing the original sculpture, however, the artist incorporated elements of Christian iconography into his depiction. The long, flowing hair, the necklace, and the seemingly woolen fabric are not attributes of Venus; they are characteristics typically associated with the biblical figure Mary Magdalene.