Venus Aphrodite Callipygia Statue, reproduction in Capodimonte porcelain of a Roman copy of the Greek bronze original from the 2nd century. BC, Archaeological Museum, Naples.

Venus Aphrodite Callipygia (in Greek "with the beautiful buttocks"), the goddess of beauty, shows her refined and perfect forms sweetly reproduced in marble. An ideal according to the canons of ancient Greece.

Characteristics

• Material: Capodimonte porcelain
• Dimensions: 32 x 13 x 10 cm (12.60 x 5.12 x 3.94 inches)
• Weight: 0.8 kg
• Produced in Italy 

Venus Callipygia from the Archaeological Museum of Naples is reproduced in this small Capodimonte porcelain statuette, precisely respecting the harmony and beauty of the original thanks to new technologies.

3D scanning and additive printing allow the canons codified by Policleto to remain absolutely unaltered even in scale reproductions thanks to the mathematical detection of the three-dimensional structure of the statue and 3D printing.

The Golden Section and the precise arithmetic rules allowed Greek and Roman sculptors to perfectly reproduce the harmony of the human body. In the scale reproductions made from the eighteenth century onwards, the hand of the sculptors of the time intervened, as they were not always able to respect these rules. The statuettes that reproduced the Doryphorus or other ancient masterpieces often only vaguely resembled the original work.

The extraordinary archaeological discoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 18th century gave an exceptional boost to classical taste and to the reproductions of ancient masterpieces. In that context King Charles III founded the Royal Factory of Capodimonte for the production of porcelain artefacts. Excellent sculptors such as Filippo Tagliolini were called to celebrate the great archaeological discoveries found in the Domus of the wealthy Pompeians. The excellent porcelain artefacts of the Royal Factory became highly sought after souvenirs by the European elites engaged in their Voyage en Italie. A trip that rich noble and bourgeois families considered essential for a complete education of young people, a trip to Italy lasting several months spent assimilating the culture, art and beauty spread throughout the peninsula.

Souvenirs from the 18th century are today works of art. Tagliolini's porcelain reproductions are kept in the Capodimonte Museum for their excellent artistic quality which is independent of that of the original work.

Capodimonte Museum

Objects born as souvenirs are today considered works of art, hence a reflection on the mass reproducibility of the work of art which does not find its first application in modernity as theorized by Walter Benjamin.

Already in Greco-Roman antiquity, the works of art of the great sculptors were reproduced in series thanks to the technology of bronze casting and spread to be enjoyed and admired throughout the ancient world.

Reproductions, made to celebrate a deity or an emperor, are today considered works of art. In fact, the value of a work of art is independent of the medium that conveys it, be it marble or bronze (or porcelain) but resides in the idea that the artist has conceived of the divinity, the emperor or the athlete and which finds its materialization in sculpture. If this sculpture is reproduced countless times the greatness of the work of art is not reduced.

Therefore an object can be considered a work of art both in the original work and in its reproduction.

If today we can admire Polycletus' art, the idea, the vision he had of man, of the harmony of the human body, it is thanks to one of the many reproductions that have come down to us. The reproduction itself is a work of art.