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Marble Bust of Artemis

At St Petersburg Hermitage

Roman, A.D. 2nd century; after the Greek original of the first half of the 4th century B.C. by Praxiteles. 51 cm.
Marble Artemis Bust

Marble Artemis Bust at St. Petersburg Hermitage. Roman, A.D. 2nd century; after the Greek original of the first half of the 4th century B.C. by Praxiteles.

CC Flickr User thisisbossi
The St. Petersburg State Hermitage site says the coiffure of the very young Artemis with hair raised high and a braid circling her head is rare, but was used by members of Praxiteles' circle. Praxiteles (born c. 400 B.C.) was the sculptor who developed the female nude into an art form, supposedly modeling the Cnidian Aphrodite after a famous courtesan, Phryne (390-330), a woman wealthy enough to offer to pay for the rebuilding of the walls of Thebes after Alexander the Great destroyed the city, according to Michael Lahanas' Eros and Aphrodite.

Although the above would be a very round-about way to get at the connection between Alexander the Great and Artemis, there are other connections. See Artemis at Ephesus and Portents Surrounding the Birth of Alexander.

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