Archaeologist Marina Oncevska said Thursday that the 5.6-foot-tall marble Venus is a masterpiece of ancient art executed in the late classical Greek tradition.

It dates to the second or third century.

Oncevska said archaeologists found the statue Tuesday in the ruins of Scupi on the northwest outskirts of Macedonia's capital.

"The smoothness of the marble and the beauty of the statue give us the clue that this masterpiece came from one of the best artistic schools in the Mediterranean," she said.

The goddess is depicted coyly covering her groin and breasts with her hands and has a dolphin attached to her left leg.