Venus Italica

“The works of Phidias are true flesh, that is, beautiful nature”, he wrote from London to his friend Quatremère de Quincy in 1815, after admiring the famous marbles of the Parthenon; “I must confess to you, dear friend, that having seen these things has stirred my self-esteem, because I have always been of the opinion that the great masters must have worked in this way and not otherwise”.