Poncet, François-Marie (1736 - 1797)

François-Marie Poncet was born in Lyon and spent a large part of his career in Rome, where he created this sculpture of Venus. His statue was intended to compete with the most famous antiques. The care given to the face and the treatment of the ideally beautiful body, the concern for graceful proportions and the suspended movement of the goddess particularly remind the observer of the Venus of the Capitol, discovered in Rome at the end of the 17th century. The iconography also relates to Greco-Roman culture, whilst Venus' sensual nudity embodies her irresistible seductiveness and the two kissing doves evoke the love she arouses in all living beings. In France and Italy, critics praised Poncet for his fruitful dialogue with classical art, then held to be the absolute aesthetic reference. An identical replica by the artist, signed and dated 1782, is currently in a private collection.