Aphrodite: Statue of Venus.
      Stories about young men’s infatuation with statues of Venus did not originate in classical mythology, but a work ascribed to “Pseudo-Lucian” (fourth century CE?) tells of a young man of good family who spent his days in the Temple of Aphrodite gazing on her statue and whispering to her. Inflamed by desire, he managed one night to lock himself in the temple, where he embraced the statue with such passion that a “bruise” showed on the marble. Alarmed, he dove into the sea.
     In the early Middle Ages a similar story was told by William of Malmesbury. In this version a young Roman, engaged in games at his wedding, temporarily placed his ring on the finger of a Venus statue. The goddess later came to his bridal bed and suffocated him in her embrace. This story, and variants on it in which the young man actually falls in love with the statue, emphasize the magical and malign powers of the goddess of love and the unholy influence of paganism. It became a favorite theme of Romantic literature, particularly German and French.
     
     Classical Source. Pseudo-Lucian, Erotes 15.

Further References:
      Baum, Pauli F. 1919 - 1920. "The Young Man Betrothed to a Statue,” Publications of the Modern Language Association 34: 523-79; 35:60-62.
      Mühler, Robert. 1957. “Der Venusring: Zur Geschichte eines romantischen Motivs,” Aurora 17: 50-62.
      Fass, Barbara. 1974. La Belle Dame sans Merci and the Aesthetics of Romanticism. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.