Around 350 BCE, the sculptor Praxiteles carved an Aphrodite. What made it remarkable wasn't the artistry alone but the fact that she was completely nude, the first life-size freestanding goddess shown that way. The story goes that the island of Kos had commissioned the piece, took one look at the naked version, and balked. Knidos happily bought the rejected statue. It turned out to be the deal of the century. The statue made the city a pilgrimage site, drawing visitors from across the Aegean who sailed in just to see her. Pliny the Elder later called it the finest statue in the entire world. The temple was reportedly built open on all sides so you could admire the goddess in the round, an early bit of museum staging. Ancient writers even tell a scandalous tale of a young man so smitten he hid overnight in the sanctuary. The earlier archaic Aphrodite on this coin hints at this sensuality and has a small knowing smirk reminiscent of the later Mona Lisa!