s great
prototype, modelled after the form of Phryne. The most celebrated copy
of the Cnidian statue is in the Vatican, disfigured, however, by false
drapery. The statue gives us some idea of the superlative beauty of
Phryne. It is very pure, very unconscious of its charms, and captivates
the beholder by its simple grace and naturalness. Lucian, the aesthetic
critic, in the construction of his ideal statue selected for description
the head of the Aphrodite of Cnidos. He particularly admired the finely
pencilled telling him that he had suffered no loss, but had only been
entrapped into saying which were the most beautiful of his works. So she
chose the _Love_."

Either this or a similar statue of Eros was dedicated by Phryne in
Thespiae, the city of her birth. Later, Praxiteles made of her a statue
of gold, which was set up at Delphi between those of two kings. She also
served as his model for the celebrated Aphrodite of Cnidos, which Pliny
describes as "the finest statue, not only by Praxiteles, but in the
whole world." The inhabitants of Cnidos placed the image, which they
believed had been made under the direct inspiration of the goddess of
love herself, in a beautiful shrine surrounded by myrtle trees, so
arranged that the figure might be seen from many different points of
view; "and from all sides," adds Pliny, "it was equally admired." Hither
came Greeks from all parts of the world merely to behold the statue and
to worship at the shrine of the goddess. King Nicomedes of Bithynia, in
his eagerness to possess the statue, offered to pay for it the whole
public debt of the island, which was enormous; but the Cnidians
preferred to suffer anything rather than give up their treasure; and
with good reason, "for by that statue Praxiteles made Cnidos famous."
Writers of epigrams were fond of extolling the statue; and many of the
extant statues of Venus are but replicas or adaptations of this great
prototype, modelled after the form of Phryne. The most celebrated copy
of the Cnidian statue is in the Vatican, disfigured, however, by false
drapery. The statue gives us some idea of the superlative beauty of
Phryne. It is very pure, very unconscious of its charms, and captivates
the beholder by its simple grace and naturalness. Lucian, the aesthetic
critic, in the construction of his ideal statue selected for description
the head of the Aphrodite of Cnidos. He particularly admired the finely
pencilled eyebrows and the melting ga