Goddess of Willendorf

The Goddess of Willendorf, great-bellied giver of life and great-breasted source of nourishment, was also called the Venus of Willendorf. Discovered in Austria by archeologists, she is both the earliest depiction (estimated at 30,000 - 25,000 BCE) of the human form and the first known religious image of the Mother Goddess in all her raw and fertile splendor. Art historians intensely debate the sophistication of her detail, her unknowable face, the dynamism of her braided hair, and her profoundly regal posture.

When held in the palm of the hand, she is utterly transformed as a piece of sculpture, becoming a remarkably sensuous object, her flesh soft and yielding to the touch.

According to one scholar, the Goddess of Willendorf:
 "exhibits... a physical and sexual self that seems unrestrained, unfettered by cultural taboos and social conventions. She is an image of "natural" femaleness, of uninhibited female power, which "civilization," in the figure of the Classical Venus, later sought to curtail and bring under control."

The Goddess of Willendorf, also called the Venus of Willendorf, inspired the exquisite glass art goddess collection of  the internationally acclaimed glass artist Colin Heaney.