Apelles' Aphrodite Anadyomene: the itinerary of a sacred gift.

This article examines the history and cultural significance of the *Aphrodite Anadyomene*, a famous painting by Apelles, to explore collecting practices in ancient Greek and Roman sacred spaces. It highlights the painting’s original dedication in the Asklepieion sanctuary at Kos, its later relocation to the Temple of the Deified Caesar in Rome under Augustus, and the complex religious, legal, and social contexts surrounding such displacements of cultural property. The study challenges direct analogies between ancient sacred treasuries and modern museums, emphasizing the embeddedness of these collections in ritual and political frameworks rather than secular curatorial concerns. It also discusses ancient attitudes toward conservation, cultural property inalienability, and the role of celebrated artworks in shaping pilgrimage and art tourism in antiquity.