CARIA. Cnidus. Caracalla, with Plautilla, 198-217. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 32 mm, 17.23 g, 7 h), 202-205. [AY K M] ANTΩNINOC / ΦOYP[BI]A ΠΛΑΥΤΙΛΛΑ Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Caracalla, on the left, facing draped bust of Plautilla, on the right; below, countermark: laureate head (of Caracalla?) to right within circular incuse. Rev. KNIΔ[ΙΩN] Praxiteles' Cnidian Aphrodite, covering her nudity and holding drapery that falls behind amphora, facing Apollo standing facing, head to left, resting left on lyre set on column. BMC -. Naumann 36 (2015), 418 and 44 (2016), 649 (both from the same dies). SNG Keckman -. SNG München -. Very rare. Patina stripped and with light corrosion, otherwise, very fine.


This interesting issue shows Praxiteles' Cnidian Aphrodite, credited as being the first statue to show the body of a Greek goddess in the nude. The story goes that the arist was commissioned by the Coans to sculpt the statue, but upon seeing that the goddess was nude, the Coans refused to display it, and it was purchased by the Cnidians instead. In Cnidus, the sculpture was housed in a temple which still stands today, and it quickly developed into a prime tourist attraction, noted for arousing the passions of its male visitors. Although the original is now lost, Cnidus' coins, along with the many copies made throughout the Graeco-Roman period, give us an impression of what the statue must have looked like.