Antl-Weiser, Walpurga : The Venus of Willendorf
"Antl-Weiser, Walpurga : The Venus of Willendorf"
Walpurga Antl-Weiser,
The Venus of Willendorf.
Wien 2025
ISBN 978-3-903096-49-3
200 S./pp., zahlr. Farbabb./num. colour figs., 27,5 x 19,5 cm; kartoniert / hardcover
The Willendorf figurine was found in 1908 during an excavation of the Natural History Museum
Vienna under the direction of Joseph Szombathy, Hugo Obermaier, and Joseph Bayer. The first
well documented Palaeolithic figurine soon became an icon of Palaeolithic art. Recent analyses
unveiled the possible origin of the raw material and the production process of the sculpture.
The Venus of Willendorf and other Palaeolithic figurines reflect a network of communication
across Europe, from France to Russia. Worshiped ancestors, mothers, or mythical beings?
Although we will never know their exact meaning and function, the recurrent combination
of different types of female figurines and animal sculptures are a testimony of past human
thoughts. The figurines could be seen as protagonists in legends told around the fireplaces of
Palaeolithic camp sites more than 30,000 years ago.
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