Venus

Giambologna executed several figures of Venus, mostly for fountains. In these he achieves the Mannerist ideal in elongation and in conscious courtly elegance. This extraordinary marble statue of a bathing Venus, one of Giambologna’s masterpieces, occupies the centre of the third and last grotto in the Buontalenti Grotto. The finely polished surface of her elongated body contrasts effectively with the roughly hewn stones of the pedestal and the overall rustic environment.