Don't let anyone tell me these Venuses were just symbolic. The artist must have lovingly observed such details for many hours and captured in them not only the essence of the mother woman, the goddess and the erotic symbol. The details, the spikes perfectly anatomized, even the hairnet decorated with hundreds of tiny shells. We can also feel the nature of it and how confident a woman could behave in the time of the cult of the mother. This is how she comes out in front of the cave, with her hands on her chest and one eyebrow raised, and all she has to do is look at the quarreling men, the mischievous children or the visitors from another tribe and everyone calms down.

Just as in Bohemia we all admire the Venus of Věstonice, in Austria the most popular woman is the Venus of Willendorf from Aggsbach. She is about 25,000 years old and has lost none of her beauty to this day.

The 11-centimetre-long original limestone oolite hides the story of her Palaeolithic ancestors. The rock is said to have originated in Italy. Did the maker miss his wife on a long expedition and carve her?



3.5 x 1.5 cm.

21 g