Venus of Willendorf


The oldest known example of visual art, this little figure (4.5" high) is dated between 30,000 & 25,000 BC.

The statue is called a Venus because it is a fertility figure (Venus was the Roman goddess o f love and fertility). Her exaggerated sexual features (breasts, pregnant stomach, vagina) mark her as an icon of fertility and emphasize early man's fascination with the creation of life.