Aphrodite2.0003_Howes

Aphrodite2.0003_Howes

OGCMA s.v. "Aphrodite"

Aphrodite, Alan Howes. 1952. Top of Terrace Gardens (immediately below Richmond Hill), London.

The sculpture uses classic Aphrodite anadyomene iconography including her riding on waves, a dolphin between her feet, and the classic Aphrodite arranging her hair pose. However, the sculpture was initially received as obscene and a "sacrilege to Aphrodite" and received the nick-name "Bulbous Betty."

See Davina Thackara and Fran Lloyd, Public Sculpture of Outer South and West London, Public Sculpture of Britain, 13 (University of Liverpool Press, 2011), 245-46. (Photo at left is theirs.)

Stone statue of a nude woman carrying a large vessel on her head, surrounded by tall grass and lush foliage

The citizens of Richmond Hill fought strenuously to have the sculpture removed but ultimately failed.

Thackara/Lloyd document:Richmond Herald 31 May 1952, Richmond and Twickenham Times 12/20/13/26 July 1952.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University and other contexts.
This resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.