24T36 Vienna’s Venus & Fanny, prehistoric female figures

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E35 V2

I’ve previously written about a distinct phase in the architectural evolution of late 19th-century Vienna. The Ringstraße, or Ring Road, brought to the city a flurry of new buildings after the demolition of the former inner-city wall.

Completed in 1889, the Museum of Natural History (Naturhistorisches Museum, NHM) operates as science and archaeology museum and research facility, containing a large inventory of natural artifacts first collected together by the Habsburgs in 1750. Their collection includes two pieces I’ve wanted to see for some time: demonstrations of human desire for expression, that have survived tens of thousands of years. They are the Venus of Willendorf and Fanny of Stratzing; both are female figures, each about the size of an outstretched thumb.

The front facade of the NHM, from Maria Theresia Plaza.
Venus of Willendorf: discovered in 1908 during excavation work near Willendorf. Artifact age 29.5-thousand years old.
Fanny of Stratzing (known also as Venus of Galgenberg): discovered near Krems in 1988. At 36-thousand years old, it’s the oldest art object in Austria.
Yes, the ladies deserve their own space.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 12 Jun 2024. I received neither sponsor nor support from any organization. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

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