Greek And Roman Mythology Sculptures - On Postcards

One of my main topical stamp collections is "Mythologies of the World" stamps. As a side collection, I collect postcards depicting sculptures of images and scenes from Greek and Roman mythologies. Most of them are from the middle of the 20th century, the oldest are from 1930's or maybe 1920's. I will post them here and hope you like them. Please, fill free to add your postcards.

Aphrodite of Rhodes is a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Aphrodite built around the second or first century BC and was found in 1923 in Rhodes.

Cupid (Amor) and Psyche

Psyche is a princess so beautiful that the goddess Venus becomes jealous. In revenge, she instructs her son Cupid (Amor) to make her fall in love with a hideous monster; but instead he falls in love with her himself.

Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (Italian: Amore e Psiche), sculpture by Italian artist Antonio Canova (1757 – 1822) created in 1787. There are versions of this sculpture made by Canova's students:


A version of the Canova's sculpture by Adamo Tadolini (1788 – 1863) is exhibited in Villa Carlotta, Como lake, Italy. Here is the hall with the sculpture in the middle:

Cupid (Amor) and Psyche, a 1st or 2nd century Roman copy of a late Hellenistic period original, Capitoline museum, Rome, Italy:

Psyche borne by winged Zephyrs, by the British sculptor, John Gibson (1790 - 1866), Corsini Gallery, Rome:



Cupid and Psyche with the lamp, by Reinhold Begas (1831-1911), Altes Museum, Berlin:

"Hermes and the Infant Dionysus" is one of the famous sculptures throughout the world made by Praxiteles of Athens, the most renowned of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BC. The sculpture was discovered at Olympia in 1877 and is exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Greece.

Statue of Asclepius from the theatre of Caesarea (Cherchell), Algeria, Roman Civilization, Archaeological Museum of Cherchell

Asclepius and Hygieia, goddess of health, cleanliness and hygiene, Roman copy statue from the time of Hadrian after a late Hellenistic original.

Perseus, the son of the mortal Danae and the god Zeus, was the Greek hero that fought and killed the Gorgon Medusa.

Perseus with the Head of Medusa, sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini (1500 - 1571), Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy

Perseus and the Gorgon, by French artist Laurent Marqueste (1848 - 1920), Musée du Luxembourg.

The Capitoline Venus (Aphrodite) is a type of statue of Venus, goddess of beauty and love, specifically one of several Venus Pudica (modest Venus) types. The Capitoline Venus and her variants are recognisable from the position of the arms—standing after a bath, Venus begins to cover her breasts with her right hand, and her groin with her left hand.

This original of this type (from which the following copies derive) is thought to be a lost 3rd- or 2nd-century BCE variation on Praxiteles' work from Asia Minor.

The Rape of the Sabine Women, sculpture by the Flemish sculptor Jean de Boulogne, known as Giambologna (1529 – 1608), Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, Italy:

In Greek mythology, Polyxena was the youngest daughter of King Priam of Troy and his queen, Hecuba. After the fall of Troy, she dies when sacrificed by the Greeks on the tomb of Achilles, to whom she had been betrothed.

The Rape of Polyxena, by Pio Fedi (1855–1865), in Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence.
The name does not refer to sexual rape, but to an earlier definition of the word derived from the Latin rapere, "to snatch, to grab, to carry off". It does not show Polyxena's sexual rape, but her taking to be killed by Neoptolemus, despite the protests of her mother Hecuba, seated. The body on the ground, somewhat anachronistically, is either her brother Polites, or possibly Hector.

I have this postcard with no description. Is it other version of the Rape of Polyxena? appreciate any information:

Inside the Medici Chapel is the tomb of Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours, with several sculptures including four representing allegories by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Two of them representing allegory of Dawn and allegory of Night:

Apollo is one of the Olympian gods in classical Greek and Roman mythology. He is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Apollo is the god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more.

The Apollo Belvedere is a celebrated marble sculpture from Classical Antiquity. It was rediscovered in central Italy in the late 15th century. From the mid-18th century it was considered the greatest ancient sculpture by ardent neoclassicists, and for centuries epitomized ideals of aesthetic perfection for Europeans and westernized parts of the world. It is exhibited in the Gabinetto delle Maschere of the Pio-Clementine Museum of the Vatican Museums complex.

I have no PC shows the complete sculpture but I have it on stamps. Here is one from Niger plus Wiki photo;

"Apollo and Daphne" sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), Borghese Gallery, Rome

Great thread!

Thank you, DC3

Several sculptures show Venus (Aphrodite), goddess of love and beauty:

Venus of Gnidia, Vatican museum:

Venus Italica, by Antonio Canova (1757 - 1822), Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy:

Venus Anadyomene ("Venus, Rising from the Sea"), Roman sculpture from 1st century, Uffiz Gallery, Florence, Italy:

Crouching Venus, Roman statue excavated at Salona (modern Solin near Split, Croatia), Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy:

Laocoon and His Sons

Laocoon was a Trojan priest. During the Trojan War, when the Greeks sent the wooden horse, he tried to convince the Trojans to burn it to ensure it was not a trick. He was punished by goddess Athena who sent two giant sea serpents to strangle and kill him and his two sons.

The statue of "Laocoon and His Sons", by Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus, was excavated in Rome in 1506 and placed on public display in the Vatican. It showing Laocoon and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus being attacked by the sea serpents

I have not a postcard shows the complete statue so here it is on embossed souvenir sheet issued by the Vatican in 2006 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Vatican museum: