With a proposed dating of 25,000–20,000 years ago, it is considered one of the earliest expressions of art in Italy.

[3][2] The statuette was unearthed in 1925 by a farmer, Olindo Zambelli, who was digging outside his stable in the locality of Prà Martino, under the frazione of Mulino, itself within the comune of Savignano sul Panaro.

[1] Zambelli cleaned and kept the “old stone” despite his wife's advice to throw it away; eventually, he showed it to a local painter and sculptor, Giuseppe Graziosi, who realized the importance of the find and managed to obtain it from the farmer in exchange for two hundred kilograms of grapes.

[3] The new owner then showed the figurine to his son Paolo Graziosi, at the time a young student of archaeology, who published a paper on it.

Typical of other venus figures, the feminine features are overemphasized: the thighs and hips are large while the belly, breasts and buttocks are protruding.