An historic sculpture of the Venus de’ Medici has been removed from a Berlin government building at the request of equal opportunities officers who argued its presence was sexist.
The bronze, made in the early 18th century as a copy of a 1st century BC marble now in Florence’s Uffizi, had for a decade adorned the entrance of the Federal Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues in Berlin-Weißensee, in the city’s southeast.
However, it could not survive an equal opportunities officer.
“There was a tip from the Equal Opportunities Officer of the Federal Office for Central Services and Open Property Issues that the statue ‘Venus Medici’ was perceived as sexist and that there could therefore be a need for action due to the Federal Equality Act,” a spokeswoman for the administrative office told German daily Bild.
“The Federal Office of Administration (BVA), with the participation of the BVA’s Equal Opportunities Officer, then returned the statue to the Federal Art Administration on 15.07.2024”, the spokesperson added.
The president of the Berlin office was only informed about the complaint “by notification”, without specific reasons.
But the Federal Office for Central Services and Open Property Issues had no influence on the statue’s removal, a spokeswoman told Bild.
After the Venus was banned from the Federal Office, the Federal Art Administration gave the bronze to the Grassi Museum.
The bronze casting “enriches our permanent exhibition, which also addresses the rediscovery of antiquity in the time of classicism,” museum director Dr Olaf Thormann told Bild.
“I cannot understand that Venus Medici might be perceived as sexist. It is already a ‘shameful’ Venus of the type and does not show any charismatic nudity. This alleged offence is a strange interpretation of art,” said Dr Thormann.
“The female nude – just like the male nude – has existed in art history from the very beginning. To construct sexism from this misses the entirety of art history and, I would say, even the perspective on something deeply human,” he added.
The Medici Venus is a 1.53 m (5 ft) Hellenistic marble sculpture portraying Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. The widely-copied Uffizi marble is itself a 1st-century BC copy of an earlier original, likely in Athens. It exemplifies the refined artistry of Hellenistic sculpture.
“The goddess is depicted according to the mythical type of ‘pudica‘ (chaste),” says the museum website.
“Caught how she instinctively covers her breasts and pubic area, as if she feels watched by an indiscreet look,” the museum continues.
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