![]() Sightunseen, early 19th century art historians decided the newly discovered Venus must have been the work of Greek artist Praxiteles, and publicized the work as such. The original plinth was ditched on purpose. Modern art historians believe that the variation of finish does not mean those arms did not belong to Venus, but both the arms and the original plinth have been lost since the piece moved to Paris in 1820. Kentrotas did find fragments of an arm and a handwhen he uncovered the statue in the ruins, but as Venus de Milo was being reassembled, those arms were discarded for having a "rougher" appearance. The loss of her limbs is the fault of the French. In turn, the ruler gave the statue to the Louvre, where it is on display to this very day. When Kentrotas called upon a French naval officer to help him unearth the spectacular sculpture, he began a chain of events that would eventually lead to the Marquis de Rivière presenting Venus de Milo to Louis XVIII. To this day, it's a matter of passionate debate. If she held an apple-as some reports claim-it could mean she was Aphrodite, holding the award given to her by Paris before the Trojan War began. A spear could have meant one thing, a spool of thread another. With her arms long missing, would-be context clues have been lost for centuries. Still others have proposed she's Victory, or perhaps a prostitute. Some have suggested the sculpture is not Aphrodite/Venus, but Amphitrite, the sea goddess who was particularly adored on Milos. The inscription on the plinth-the slab on which the statue rested-that identified him as Venus de Milo's creator was lost nearly 200 years ago. ![]() Alexandros of Antioch is credited with her creation.Ī sculptor of the Hellenistic period, Alexandros is believed to have carved this masterpiece between 130 and 100 BCE. On April 8, 1820, a farmer named Yorgos Kentrotas came across the statue in pieces within the ruins of an ancient city on the island of Milos (formerly known as Melos). She's named in part for where she was discovered. Nonetheless, the Roman-inspired Venus de Milo caught on. However, the Greeks would have called this deity Aphrodite. It's popularly believed that this Grecian statue depicts the Greek Goddess of love and beauty, who was often rendered half-naked. Venus de Milo's title is a bit misleading. But there's much more to this iconic statue than a couple of absent appendages. (Also missing now is the metal jewelry scholars say decorated the statue’s arms, head and ears in ancient times, as well as the colored paint on its face, hair and drapery.) Speculation remains about the Venus de Milo’s original pose, although evidence suggests its once held an apple in its left hand.For much of the world, the mystery of the Venus de Milo lies in her missing arms. But, in fact, most scholars today believe the sculpture’s arms already were missing when it was found by Voutier and the farmer. Originally carved in two blocks of marble then fitted together, the statue stands 6 feet 7 inches from head to toe and is the creation of an artist named Alexandros of Antioch, about whom little is known.Īs for the Venus de Milo’s missing limbs, there long have been claims they were broken off in 1820 during a fight on the shore of Melos, as French and Turkish sailors vied for possession of the artwork. Now, however, the Venus de Milo is thought to have been produced around 100 B.C., during a later period known as the Hellenistic age. The Louvre initially promoted the Venus de Milo as a masterpiece from the Greek classical era. It arrived in France in 1821 and was presented to Louis XVIII, who donated it to the Louvre Museum, where it remains today. Voutier told his superiors about the discovery and the French acquired the artwork, which came to be known as the Venus de Milo, for a relatively modest sum. Recognizing the statue as potentially significant, the Frenchman, with the farmer’s help, unearthed its lower half not far away. Upon investigating, Voutier learned the farmer had located the top half of a statue of a woman. While digging near the ruins of an ancient theater, Voutier noticed that a local farmer, who’d been removing stones from a nearby wall for use as building materials, seemed to have found something inside the wall. An ensign in the French navy, Olivier Voutier, whose ship was anchored in the harbor at Melos, decided to kill time one day by going ashore and searching for antiquities. The artwork was discovered in 1820 on the Aegean island of Melos (also called Milos). One of the most famous examples of ancient Greek sculpture, the Venus de Milo is immediately recognizable by its missing arms and popularly believed to represent Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, who was known to the Romans as Venus.
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