Venus received a regional "surname" by the name of the island on which she was found in 1820 by a French sailor. Milos, today a territory of Greece, at that time was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

History of Venus de Milo

A Frenchman, accompanied by a Greek guide, found a beautiful statue - generally well preserved, but divided in half. The Turkish authorities, after exhausting bargaining, nevertheless allowed the statue to be removed from the island, but later, realizing what value they had lost, they staged a demonstrative punishment for the Greeks who participated in the search and transportation. In the process of the latter, the hands were just lost. In France, Venus was presented to Louis XVIII and soon transferred to the Louvre, where it remains to this day.

Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt at the Louvre. (wikipedia.org)

On the pedestal, which was found along with the sculpture and then lost, it is indicated that the statue was made by Alexander, the son of Menides, a citizen of Antioch on Meander. And it happened around 130 BC.

The statue was sculpted in pieces, which were then put together. A similar technique was popular in the Cyclades. Judging by the remaining mounting holes, Venus was wearing bracelets, earrings and a headband, while the marble was painted. For its time, the sculpture is unique in the graceful curve of the body and the skillfully executed drapery of the falling fabric.

3D reconstruction of the statue. Source: wikipedia.org

It is generally accepted that the half-naked goddess personifies Aphrodite (in the Roman tradition, Venus), but the absence of hands in which she could hold the attributes that characterize her gives rise to numerous hypotheses.

Statue of Venus de Milo: versions

There is an assumption that Venus held an apple. There are hypotheses that this is the goddess of the sea, Amphitrite, who was extremely revered on Milos. She could be paired with someone, one of her hands resting on the shoulder of a neighboring sculpture. She could hold a bow or an amphora - the attributes of Artemis.

There is also a hypothesis that the sculpture was not a goddess, but a hetero - one of those that were often depicted on vases.

Image of a statue of Praxiteles. (wikipedia.org)

For its beautiful eyes and charming curves, the sculpture is still considered the goddess of love and belongs to the so-called Knidos type. Around 350 B.C. e. Praxiteles fashioned a naked goddess, who held the fallen clothes. The statue has not survived, but the image has been reproduced by numerous followers in sculpture and painting.

Greek sculpture had a tremendous impact on subsequent eras. In many ways, the ideals of the beauty of the body were first embodied in marble by ancient masters and, with slight variations, have survived to this day. The period of Hellenism, to which the Venus de Milo belongs, was a time of change: social institutions traditional for classical Greece became obsolete, new ones arose. Changed foundations and norms, worldview, attitude to art.

Aesthetics was formed under the influence of the cultures of those peoples that were part of the empire as it expanded. The influence of the East is becoming more noticeable with its attention to decor, details, sensuality and emotionality, which comes through even in marble. Sculpture was no longer the embodiment of the static position of an ideal body, but demonstrated the passions that overwhelmed the heroes, represented multi-figured genre scenes, which was later used by painters.

The vast majority of people know Venus de Milo, first of all, as a statue without hands. And this, as many believe, is its main mystery. But in fact, much more mysteries and secrets are connected with this statue.

1. The name "Venus de Milo" is misleading.

It is widely believed that this statue depicts the Greek goddess of love and beauty. But the Greeks called this goddess Aphrodite, and Venus is the Roman name.

2. The statue was named after the place where it was discovered.

On April 8, 1820, a farmer named Yorgos Kentrotas came across a statue in the ruins of an ancient city on the island of Milos.

3. The creation of the statue is attributed to Alexandros of Antioch

The Hellenistic sculptor Alexandros is believed to have carved this masterpiece in stone between 130 and 100 BC. Initially, the statue was found with a pedestal-slab on which it stood. There, an inscription about the creator was found. Subsequently, the pedestal mysteriously disappeared.

4. The statue may not represent Venus

Some believe that the sculpture depicts not Aphrodite / Venus, but Amphitrite, a sea goddess who was especially revered on Milos. Still others even suggest that this is a statue of the goddess of victory, Victoria. There are also disputes about what the statue originally had in its hands. There are different versions that it could be a spear or a spinning wheel with threads. There is even a version that it was an apple, and the statue is Aphrodite, who holds in her hands the award given to her by Paris, as the most beautiful goddess.

5. The sculpture was presented to the king of France

Kentrotas originally found this statue with the French sailor Olivier Voutier. Having changed several owners while trying to take it out of the country, the statue eventually came to the French ambassador in Istanbul, the Marquis de Riviere. It was the Marquis who presented Venus to the French King Louis XVIII, who, in turn, gave the statue to the Louvre, where it is located to this day.

6. The statue lost its arms due to the French

Kentrotas found hand fragments when he discovered the statue in ruins, but after they were reconstructed, they were deemed too "rough and inelegant". Modern art historians believe that this does not mean at all that the hands did not belong to Venus, but rather they were damaged over the centuries. Both the arms and the original plinth were lost when the statue was transported to Paris in 1820.

7. The original pedestal was removed purposefully

Art historians of the 19th century decided that the statue of Venus was the work of the Greek sculptor Praxiteles (it was very similar to his statues). This classified the statue as belonging to the classical era (480-323 BC), whose creations were valued much more than the sculptures of the Hellenistic period. To support this version, even at the cost of misinformation, the plinth was removed before the sculpture was presented to the king.

8. Venus de Milo - the object of national pride of the French

During his conquests, Napoleon Bonaparte brought one of the finest examples of Greek sculpture, the Medici Venus, from Italy. In 1815, the French government returned this statue to Italy. And in 1820, France gladly took the opportunity to fill an empty space in the main French museum. Venus de Milo became more popular than the Venus de Medici, which was also represented in the Louvre.

9 Renoir Wasn't Impressed With Sculpture

Perhaps the most famous of the detractors of Venus de Milo, the famous impressionist artist stated that the sculpture is very far from depicting female beauty.

10 Venus Was Hid During World War II

By the autumn of 1939, with the threat of war looming over Paris, the Venus de Milo, along with some other priceless artefacts such as the Nike of Samothrace and works by Michelangelo, had been removed from the Louvre for safekeeping in various castles in the French countryside.

11. Venus got robbed

Venus lacks not only hands. She was originally adorned with jewelry, including bracelets, earrings, and a tiara. These decorations disappeared a long time ago, but holes for fastening remained in the marble.

12. Venus has lost color

Although modern art connoisseurs are accustomed to consider Greek statues white, marble sculptures were often painted in various colors. However, no trace of the original coloring survives today.

13. The statue is taller than most people

The height of Venus de Milo is 2.02 m.

14. Sculpture can be a copy

Art historians note that Venus de Milo bears a striking resemblance to Aphrodite or Venus of Capu, which is a Roman copy of a Greek original statue. Since the creation of the Venus of Capua, at least 170 years have passed before Alexandros created the Venus of Milos. Some art historians believe that both statues are actually copies of an older source.

15. Imperfect sculpture as a source of inspiration

The missing hands of the Venus de Milo are much more than a source of numerous lectures, discussions and essays by art historians. Their absence also led to innumerable fantasies and theories as to how the hands might have been positioned and what might have been in them.

(Aphrodite from the island of Milos)- Ancient Greek sculpture, created approximately between 130 and 100 BC.

History of creation

History of the find

Voutier tried to persuade the captain to immediately sail to Istanbul in order to obtain an export permit, but the captain refused and Voutier gave up on his find. But another naval officer, Jules Dumont-Durville, went to Istanbul and obtained permission. Upon his return, he found the statue on a Russian ship whose captain had been paid by a Turkish official to transport the statue to Istanbul. After difficult negotiations with the islanders, Dumont-D'Urville finally managed to ransom the statue. Later, the Turkish authorities, furious that such a valuable find had gone from them, ordered that the most influential inhabitants of the island of Milos be subjected to public flogging.

Her hands were lost after the discovery, at the time of the conflict between the French, who wanted to take her to their country, and the Turks (owners of the island), who sought to prevent the statue from being taken out of the empire.

Classification and location

Initially, the statue was attributed to the classical period (510-323 BC); for some time the authorship was attributed to Praxiteles. But it turned out that a pedestal was also brought with the statue, on which it was written that Agesander (or Alexander, the inscription was illegible), the son of Menidas, a citizen of Antioch on Meander, made this statue. Thus, the statue belongs to the Hellenistic period. Subsequently, the pedestal disappeared and has not been found to date.

The statue was acquired in 1821 and is currently stored in a gallery specially prepared for it on the first floor of the Louvre. Code: LL 299 (Ma 399).

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Venus de Milo

“Nothing, your honor?” he said, addressing Tushin inquiringly. - Here he strayed from the company, your honor; I don't know where. Trouble!
Together with the soldier, an infantry officer with a bandaged cheek came up to the fire and, turning to Tushin, asked to be ordered to move a tiny gun in order to transport the wagon. After the company commander, two soldiers ran into the fire. They swore desperately and fought, pulling out some kind of boot from each other.
- How did you raise it! Look, clever, one shouted in a hoarse voice.
Then a thin, pale soldier with a bloody collar tied around his neck came up and in an angry voice demanded water from the gunners.
- Well, to die, or something, like a dog? he said.
Tushin ordered to give him water. Then a cheerful soldier ran up, asking for a light in the infantry.
- A hot fire in the infantry! Happily stay, countrywomen, thank you for the light, we will give back with a percentage, ”he said, taking the reddening firebrand somewhere into the darkness.
Behind this soldier, four soldiers, carrying something heavy on their greatcoats, walked past the fire. One of them stumbled.
“Look, hell, they put firewood on the road,” he grumbled.
- It's over, why wear it? one of them said.
- Well, you!
And they disappeared into the darkness with their burden.
- What? hurts? Tushin asked Rostov in a whisper.
- Hurts.
- Your honor, to the general. Here they are standing in a hut, - said the fireworks, approaching Tushin.
- Now, dove.
Tushin got up and, buttoning his overcoat and recovering, walked away from the fire ...
Not far from the fire of the artillerymen, in a hut prepared for him, Prince Bagration was sitting at dinner, talking with some of the commanders of the units who had gathered at his place. There was an old man with half-closed eyes, greedily nibbling at a mutton bone, and a twenty-two-year-old impeccable general, flushed from a glass of vodka and dinner, and a staff officer with a personalized ring, and Zherkov, uneasily looking around at everyone, and Prince Andrei, pale, with pursed lips and feverishly shining eyes.
In the hut stood a taken French banner leaning in a corner, and the auditor, with a naive face, felt the fabric of the banner and, perplexed, shook his head, perhaps because he was really interested in the appearance of the banner, or maybe because it was hard for him. hungry to look at dinner, for which he did not get the device. In a neighboring hut there was a French colonel taken prisoner by the dragoons. Our officers crowded around him, examining him. Prince Bagration thanked individual commanders and asked about the details of the case and about the losses. The regimental commander, who introduced himself near Braunau, reported to the prince that as soon as the case began, he retreated from the forest, gathered woodcutters and, letting them past him, with two battalions hit with bayonets and overturned the French.
- As I saw, Your Excellency, that the first battalion was upset, I stood on the road and thought: “I will let these ones pass and meet with battle fire”; did so.
The regimental commander so wanted to do this, he was so sorry that he did not have time to do this, that it seemed to him that all this had definitely happened. Maybe it even really happened? Was it possible to make out in this confusion what was and what was not?
“Moreover, I must note, Your Excellency,” he continued, recalling Dolokhov’s conversation with Kutuzov and his last meeting with the demoted one, “that the private, demoted Dolokhov, captured a French officer in front of my eyes and especially distinguished himself.
“Here, Your Excellency, I saw the attack of the Pavlogradites,” Zherkov, looking around uneasily, intervened, who did not see the hussars at all that day, but only heard about them from an infantry officer. - They crushed two squares, your excellency.
Some smiled at Zherkov's words, as they always expected a joke from him; but, noticing that what he said was also leaning towards the glory of our weapons and of the present day, they took on a serious expression, although many knew very well that what Zherkov said was a lie, based on nothing. Prince Bagration turned to the old colonel.
- Thank you all, gentlemen, all units acted heroically: infantry, cavalry and artillery. How are two guns left in the center? he asked, looking for someone with his eyes. (Prince Bagration did not ask about the guns on the left flank; he already knew that all the guns were thrown there at the very beginning of the case.) “I think I asked you,” he turned to the staff officer on duty.

Venus de Milo, also known as Aphrodite de Milo, is an ancient Greek statue that is considered one of the most famous creations of ancient Greek culture. Created between 130 and 100 years. BC e. Depicts Aphrodite (Venus among the ancient Romans) - the Greek goddess of love and beauty. The statue is made of white marble. It reaches a height of 203 cm and has the ideal proportions of the human body, corresponding to the rule of the golden section.

Statue of Venus de Milo in the Louvre

The statue is incomplete. The arms and original plinth or main platform are missing. They were lost after the discovery of this sculpture. It is believed that the name of the creator was indicated on the platform. This is the famous master of the Hellenistic era, Alexandros of Antioch. Currently, this ancient masterpiece is in Paris at the Louvre. It got its name from the Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea, where it was discovered.

The history of the discovery of Venus de Milo

It is not known exactly who specifically discovered the unique statue. According to one version, it was found on April 8, 1820 by the peasant Yorgos Kentrotas in the ancient city ruins of Milos near the village of Tripiti. According to another version, the discoverers were Yorgos Bottonis and his son Antonio. These people accidentally entered a small underground cave near the ruins of an ancient theater and discovered a beautiful marble statue and other marble fragments. It happened in February 1820.

However, there is also a third version. On it, Venus de Milo was found by the French naval officer Olivier Voutier. He explored the island, trying to find ancient artifacts. The young peasant Wouter helped him in this. This couple dug up a unique statue in ancient ruins. At the same time, the upper part of the body and the lower part with the plinth lay separately along with the columns (germs) crowned with heads. Venus held an apple in her left hand.

View of the Venus de Milo from the front and back

But most likely, local peasants found the statue and, looking for a buyer, reported the find to the Frenchman Olivier Voutier. He bought that ancient masterpiece, but he did not have an export permit. It could only be obtained from Turkish officials who were in Istanbul. Through the French ambassador to Turkey, another naval officer, Jules Dumont-Durville, managed to arrange such permission.

Jules Dumont-Derville

While bureaucratic nuances were being settled in Istanbul, the unique find was kept by the peasant Dimitri Moraitis. But here we should make a small digression and say that the search for ancient artifacts in the 19th century was considered an extremely profitable and popular business. Thousands of people were engaged in it, and both the state and the owners of private collections bought unique finds. At the same time, it was considered very prestigious to exhibit an ancient masterpiece, unique in its beauty, in the state museum. As a result, entire teams of prospectors roamed the Nile Valley and the islands of the Mediterranean, hoping to quickly enrich themselves.

Venus de Milo today (left) and its original version (right)

Therefore, a peasant who keeps a statue of a woman with an apple in her left hand raised and with her right hand supporting clothes on her hips was tempted by a financial offer from Greek pirates. Venus de Milo was sold to sea robbers, and the French had no choice but to take it back by force. In one of the battles, French sailors captured the statue, but while they were dragging it on board, they lost both hands and the plinth. However, in a hot fight, they did not return for them.

After that, the brigantine spread her sails and rushed with all possible speed to her native French shores, as information about the historical value of the statue reached the Turkish sultan. He ordered to take it away from the French at any cost and bring it from Istanbul. But the courageous French sailors, risking their freedom and life, managed to avoid a collision with Turkish ships. The unique ancient masterpiece was safely delivered to Paris.

Venus de Milo in the Louvre

In Paris, the brought statue was immediately placed in the Louvre. There, the upper and lower parts were combined into a single whole. There was also a small fragment of the left arm, but they did not attach it to the body. The entire Venus de Milo was originally made from 7 blocks of Parian marble. One block for the bare torso, one for the wrapped legs, one block for each arm, a small block for the right leg, a block for the plinth, and a separate block depicting a small column standing near the statue.

Full view of the statue - this is how Venus de Milo looked in antiquity

In 1821, the restored sculpture was shown to Louis XVIII. He admired the ancient masterpiece, and he, after that, became available for public viewing. In the fall of 1939, the statue was packed and taken out of the Louvre in connection with the outbreak of World War II. Throughout the war years, she was in the castle of Valence in the central part of France, other historical masterpieces were also kept there.

After the war, the Venus de Milo was returned to the Louvre. There she is to this day in one of the galleries of the museum on the ground floor. It is considered one of the best classical sculptures of the Ancient World, embodying the feminine beauty and perfection of human bodies.

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