A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

(Μηνόφαντος), the sculptor of a beautiful statue of Aphrodite, which was found on the Caelian mount at Rome, and afterwards came into the possession of prince Chigi. It was first described by Winckelmann (Gesch. d. Kunst, b. 5.2.3 note), and it is figured in the Museo Capitolino (vol. iv. p. 392), and in Müller's Denkmäler d. alten Kunst (vol. ii. pl. xxv. No. 275). The attitude is nearly the same as that of the Venus de Medici, but the left-hand holds a fold of a piece of drapery, which falls down upon what is apparently a box, on the end of which is the inscription ΑΠΟ ΤΗΞ ΕΝ ΤΠΩαΔΙ ΑΦΠΟΔΙΤΗΞ ΜΗΝΟΦΑΝΤΟΞ ΕΠΟΙΕΙ. The execution is extremely good, and the eyes, forehead, and hair are particularly admired. We know nothing further of the original statue, from which the copy of Menophantus was made, nor of Menophantus himself.

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