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

What to look at: Venus (or in Greek mythology, Aphrodite), the goddess of love and beauty, is personified by many statues, but how the image embodied in them differs. And the most famous of them is the world-famous Venus de Milo, staged in the Department of Antique Art in the Louvre. One of the "three pillars of the Louvre", which every visitor to the Louvre considers it his duty to see (the other two are Nike of Samothrace and Mona Lisa).

It is believed that its creator is the sculptor Agesander or Alexandros of Antioch (the inscription is illegible). Formerly attributed to Praxiteles. The sculpture is a type of Aphrodite of Cnidus (Venus pudica, Venus bashful): a goddess holding a fallen robe with her hand (for the first time, a sculpture of this type was carved around 350 BC by Praxiteles). It was this Venus that gave the world modern standards of beauty: 90-60-90, because its proportions are 86x69x93 with a height of 164 cm.

Researchers and art historians for a long time attributed Venus de Milo to that period of Greek art, which is called "late classics". The majesty of the posture of the goddess, the smoothness of divine contours, the calmness of her face - all this makes her related to the works of the 4th century BC. But some methods of processing marble forced scientists to move the date of execution of this masterpiece two centuries ahead.

Path to the Louvre.
The statue was accidentally discovered on the island of Milos in 1820 by a Greek peasant. She probably spent at least two millennia in underground captivity. The one who placed her there obviously wanted to save her from the impending disaster. (By the way, this was not the last attempt to save the statue. In 1870, fifty years after the Venus de Milo was found, it was again hidden in a dungeon - in the cellar of the Paris police prefecture. The Germans fired on Paris and were close to the capital. Prefecture soon burned down, but fortunately the statue remained intact. Here she was seen by a young French officer, Dumont-Durville. An educated officer, a member of the expedition to the islands of Greece, he immediately appreciated the well-preserved masterpiece. Undoubtedly, it was the Greek goddess of love and beauty Venus. Moreover, she was holding an apple in her hand, handed to her by Paris in the well-known dispute between the three goddesses.

The peasant asked a huge price for his find, but Dumont-D'Urville did not have such money. However, he understood the true value of the sculpture and persuaded the peasant not to sell Venus until he got the right amount. The officer had to go to the French consul in Constantinople to persuade him to buy a statue for the French museum.

But, returning to Milos, Dumont-D'Urville learned that the statue had already been sold to some Turkish official and even packed in a box. For a huge bribe, Dumont-D'Urville bought Venus again. She was urgently placed on a stretcher and taken to the port where a French ship was moored. Literally immediately, the Turks missed the loss. In the ensuing scuffle, Venus passed several times from the French to the Turks and back. During that fight and suffered marble hands goddesses. The ship with the statue was forced to urgently sail, and the hands of Venus were left in the port. They have not been found to this day.

But even the ancient goddess, deprived of her arms and covered with gaps, enchants everyone with her perfection so much that you simply don’t notice these flaws and damage. Slightly tilted her small head on a slender neck, one shoulder rose and the other fell, the camp flexed flexibly. The softness and tenderness of the skin of Venus is set off by the drapery that has slipped onto her hips, and now it is impossible to take your eyes off the sculpture, which has conquered the world for almost two centuries with its enchanting beauty and femininity.

Hands of Venus.
When the Venus de Milo was first exhibited in the Louvre, the famous writer Chateaubriand said: "Greece has never given us better evidence of her greatness!" And almost immediately, assumptions began to pour in about the original position of the hands of the ancient goddess.

At the end of 1896, in the French newspaper "Illustration", a message was printed by a certain Marquis de Troghof that his father, who served as an officer in the Mediterranean, had seen the statue intact, and that the goddess was holding an apple in her hands.

If she was holding the apple of Paris, how were her hands positioned? True, later the statements of the Marquis were refuted by the French scientist S. Reinac. However, de Troghoff's article and S. Reinac's refutation aroused even more interest in the antique statue. The German professor Hass, for example, claimed that the ancient Greek sculptor depicted the goddess after bathing, when she was about to anoint her body with juice. The Swedish scientist G. Saloman suggested that Venus is the embodiment of voluptuousness: the goddess, using all her charm, leads someone astray.

Or maybe it was the whole sculptural composition from which only Venus has come down to us? Many researchers supported the version of the Swedish scientist, in particular, Cartmer de Kinsey suggested that Venus was depicted in a group with the god of war Mars. "Because Venus has he wrote, judging by the position of the shoulder, the hand was raised, she probably rested this hand on the shoulder of Mars; put her right hand into his left hand" . In the 19th century, they tried to reconstruct and restore the original appearance of the beautiful Venus, there were even attempts to attach wings to it. But the "completed" sculpture was losing its mystical charm, so it was decided not to restore the statue.

The Louvre really knows how to show masterpieces. Thus, the statue of Venus de Milo is placed in the middle of a small hall, and in front of it stretches a long suite of rooms in which none of the exhibits is placed in the middle. Because of this, as soon as the viewer enters the antique department, he immediately sees only Venus - a low sculpture that appears like a white ghost against a foggy background of gray walls ...

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) - Greek goddess love and beauty. Statue made from 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 torso 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 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 in state museum an ancient masterpiece, unique in its beauty. 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, the peasant who keeps the statue of a woman with an apple in her raised left hand and with 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 right foot, 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 first floor. It is considered one of the finest classical sculptures ancient world, embodying the feminine beauty and perfection of human bodies.

One of the most popular questions that torments novice art lovers.

I continue the thematic venereal week, today the classic helps us.

Valentin Pikul
What did Venus hold in her hand?

In April 1820, an ancient wind from the Aegean brought the French brigantine Lachevret to the rocks of Milos. Sleepy Greeks watched from the boats as, having removed the sails, the sailors were poisoning the anchor ropes into the depths. The smell of roses and cinnamon wafted from the shore, and a rooster crowed behind the mountain - in the neighboring village.

Two young officers, Lieutenant Materer and Lieutenant Dumont-Darville, descended on the impoverished ancient land. To begin with, they turned into a Havana tavern; the innkeeper splashed the sailors into glasses of black, like tar, local wine.

“The French,” he asked, “are probably sailing far away?”
"A cargo for the embassy," replied Matherer, tossing an orange peel under the table. - Three more nights, and we will be in Constantinople ...

The church bell rang loudly. Uncomfortable earth covered the mountain slopes. Yes, olive groves were green in the distance.
Poverty .., silence .., wretchedness .., the rooster crowed.

— What's new? Dumont-Darville asked his host, and licked his lips, which had become sticky with wine.
“It has been a quiet year, sir. Only in winter the earth behind the mountain cracked. Just on the arable land of old Castro Buttonis, who almost fell into a crevice with a plow. And what would you think?

Our Buttonis fell right into the arms of the beautiful Venus...
The sailors ordered more wine, asked to fry the fish.

“Come on, master, tell me more about this…”
Castro Butgonis watched from under his arm as two officers walked towards his arable land from afar, the wind from the sea ruffled and crumpled their delicate scarves. But these were not the Turks, whom the Greek peasant was so afraid of, and he calmed down.

“We came to see,” said Lieutenant Matherer, “where did your earth crack here in winter?”
“Oh, gentlemen of the French,” the peasant became agitated, “this is such a misfortune for my modest arable land, this crack in it. And it's all my nephew's fault. He is still young, he has a lot of strength, and so foolishly leaned on the plow ...

“We don’t have time, old man,” Dumont-Darville interrupted him.

Butgonis led them to a depression that gave access to an underground crypt, and the officers deftly jumped down, as if into the hold of a ship. And there, underground, stood a white marble plinth, on which quivering folds of clothes rose along the hips.

But only to the waist - there was no bust.

Venus de Milo (bottom)

- And where is the main thing? shouted Materer from under the ground.
"Come with me, good Frenchmen," the old man offered.

Buttonis led them to his hut. No, he does not want to deceive anyone. He and his son and nephew managed to drag him only upper part statues. If only the officers knew how hard it was.

“We carried her carefully across the arable land. And often rested ...

Venus de Milo (top)

In the midst of beggarly squalor, naked to the waist, stood a wonderful woman with a marvelous face, and the officers quickly looked at each other - looks that read millions of francs.

"I'll sell it, buy it," he suggested naively.
Materer, trying not to betray his excitement, poured out of his purse into the shriveled palm of the farmer:

“On the way back to Marseille, we will take the goddess from you.
Buttonis sorted through the coins in his palm.

“But the priest says that Venus beyond the seas is worth more than all our Milos with its vineyards.
- It's just a deposit! said Dumont-Darville. - We promise to return and bring money no matter how much you ask ...

In the evening a strong wind blew, but Materer did not take the sails to the saving reefs. Cutting off shreds of foam with a bulwark, the Lachevret flew into the harbor of Constantinople, and two officers appeared on the threshold of the embassy. The Marquis de Rivière, a passionate admirer of everything antique, barely had time to finish hearing them about the unprecedented find - he immediately pulled the bell sonnet, calling the secretary.

Relief on the monument to Dumont-Darville, 1844

“Marsulles,” he announced solemnly, “in half an hour you will be at sea.” Here is a letter to the captain of the embassy "Relay", who will obey you until Venus from the island of Miloe appears before us. In money and bullets, I advise you not to be stingy ... Wind and good luck to you!

Lachevret, under the command of Materer, never returned to his native Marseille, disappearing without a trace. And the military schooner of the French embassy "Relay" in full sail rushed towards Milos. In the middle of the night, the island shimmered with a point of distant fire. None of the team slept. Marsulles had already loaded the pistol with a bullet and the purse with a good dose of pure gold.

The ancient world, beautifully strict, arousing the delight of people, gradually revealed its secrets, and on the schooner everyone - from the cabin boy to the diplomat - understood that this night would pay off later with the gratitude of posterity.

Marsulles, nervously, took a sip of cognac from the captain's flask.

“Let’s go straight ahead,” he said, “so as not to trudge on foot from the village to the harbor ... Do you see the fire shining in the hut?
- I see clearly! replied the captain, no longer looking at the compass card; the shore, shining under the moon with sharp stones, sharply protruded in the white edging of the surf ...
- I see people! the watch officer suddenly called out from the forecastle. - They are dragging something .., white-white. And a ship! Like God's day, I see a Turkish ship right on the bow .., with guns!

The French are late. A huge military felucca was already standing in the bay. And along the shore, illuminated by moonlight, Turkish soldiers wandered under the weight of marble. And between them, hanging on the ropes, swayed the Venus de Milo.

“France will not forgive us,” Marsulles gasped in anger.
- But what to do? said the captain.
- Landing on whaleboats! the secretary of the embassy said. - Live cartridges - in guns, on oars - two people each ... Dear captain, just in case - goodbye!

The sailors rowed with such fury that the ash oars bent into an arc. The Turks raised an uproar. They threw Venus off the ropes. And, in order to get ahead of the French, they rolled her down the slope, mercilessly disfiguring the body of the goddess.

- A barrel of wine! shouted Marsulles to the sailors. “Just row, row, row ... in the name of France!”
He fired into the darkness. Pistols crackled in response.
Bowing their bayonets, the French landing force rushed forward, but retreated before the fierce glare of naked scimitars.

Venus jumped over the potholes - right into the bottom of the harbor.
- What are you standing for? shouted Marsulles. - Two barrels of wine. Honor and glory of France - forward!

The sailors in a bloody battle found for France the upper part of Venus - the most desirable for the eyes. The goddess lay on her back, and the white hills of her chest serenely reflected the radiance of inaccessible stars. And shots rang out around her ...

Three barrels of wine! - Marsulles called for a feat.
But the Turks had already rolled the base onto their longboat and, opening aimed fire, quickly raked towards the felucca. And the French remained standing on black coastal stones, among which splinters of Parian marble shone.

“Pick up all the pieces,” Marsulles ordered. - Every speck of nobility ... Eternity of the world - in these debris!
The bust of the goddess was loaded onto the ship, and the "Relay" began to overtake the Turkish sailboat. A cannon poked out over the side.

“Give us her head back,” the Turks shouted angrily.
"You'd better give us her ass," answered the French.

The gunner pressed the fuse to the fuse, and the first shot caught up with the Turkish felucca with a quiet rustle. Marsulles grabbed his whiskey.
- You're crazy! If we sink them now, the world will never see the beauty intact again... Oh my God, we will be cursed for centuries and they will be right...

The Turks with martial songs pulled the tattered sails. Marsulles ran down the gangplank to the wardroom, where the goddess rested on a sofa.

- Hands? he shouted in despair. Who saw her hands?
No, none of the landing party noticed the hands of Venus on the shore ...

Diplomatic complications began (because of the hands).
“But the Turks,” said the Marquis de Riviere, annoyed, “also deny the presence of hands ... Where did the hands go?

The Sultan of Turkey never resisted the influence of French gold, and therefore Bottom part the goddess was given to them at the disposal of France. Of the two halves, separated by enmity and envy, the Venus of Milos appeared intact (but without hands). The marble beauty soon sailed to Paris - the Marquis de Riviere brought her as a gift to King Louis XVIII, who was frightened and confused by such a gift.

“Hide, hide Venus as soon as possible!” said the king. “Ah, that worthless marquis. It's about time he knew that stolen things are not given to kings!
Louis carefully concealed from the world the theft of the statue from Milos, but the secret penetrated the press, and the king had no choice but to put Venus in the Louvre - for all to see.
So, in 1821, Venus de Milo appeared before the eyes of people - in all its beauty.

Archaeologists and connoisseurs of the elegant immediately began to rack their brains in painful riddles. Who is author? What era? Just look at this strong nose, at the interpretation of the corners of the lips; what a tiny and cute chin.
A - neck, neck, neck ...
Praxiteles? Phidias? Scopas?
After all, this is for sure a sample of Hellenistic beauty!

But an unanswerable question immediately arose:
What was Venus holding in her hand?
And this dispute dragged on for half a century.

“Venus was holding a shield in her hands, placed right in front of her,” said some historians.
- Nonsense! - objected to them. With one hand she shyly covered her bosom, and the other hand carried a warlike spear.
“You didn’t understand anything, layman,” a third voice sounded, no less authoritative. Venus held in front of her large mirror in which she looked at her beauty.
“Oh, how wrong you are, dear maestro! Venus from Milos has already left the era when its paraphernalia was a round object. No, she makes a repulsive gesture of modesty!

Venus of Capua (with arms)

- My amphitryon, you yourself do not understand the clue to the hands. Rather, the creator himself, in a fit of discontent, wished to destroy his creation. He beat off her hands, and then .., regretted it.

Yes, in fact, what did Venus finally hold in her hand, found on the island of Miloye by a Greek peasant named Castro Buttonis? ..

The Louvre attracted people. Everyone admired. But to subject the goddess to restoration was nothing to think of, because the main question has not been clarified: hands! And armless Venus stood under the gaze of thousands of people, all in charming beauty, and no one could unravel her secrets ...

Spindle Reconstruction Option

Half a century has passed. Jules Ferry, the French consul in Greece, sailed in 1872 to the island of Miloe. The scent of roses and cinnamon wafted from the shore in the same way, and the innkeeper splashed him thick black wine in the same way.

- Is it far from the village? Ferry asked, twirling the glass in sticky fingers.
— No, sir. Just over the mountain, you will see for yourself ...

Ferry knocked on the door of a dilapidated shack that had fallen apart in the past 52 years. The door creaked softly.
Before the consul stood the son of Castro Buttonis, and on the bench lay his nephew, decrepit, like his brother.
Poverty struck Ferry with the smell of onion stew and cakes burnt in the ashes. No, nothing has changed here...

Do you remember Venus well? Ferry asked the peasants.
Four earthy hands reached out to him:
“Sir, we were still very young then, and we carefully carried her from the arable land itself ... Oh, now we cannot carry ourselves so carefully!

Ferry aimed his gaze at the empty hearth of the poor.
- OK. And who among you can remember what Venus held in her hand?
“We both remember well,” the peasants nodded in response.
"So what... what?"
Our beauty had an apple in her hand.

Ferry was struck by the simplicity of the solution. Didn't even believe it.
- Is it an apple?
— Yes, sir, just an apple.
What was her other hand holding? Or have you forgotten?

Reconstruction variant with an apple

The old men looked at each other.
“Sir,” answered one of the Buttonis, “we cannot vouch for other Venuses, but ours, from the island of Miloe, was a chaste woman. And rest easy: her other handle wasn't dangling around either.
Jules Ferry, quite pleased, lifted his top hat.
- I wish you health…

He left the hut. He took in a breath of fresh air.
Climbing the mountain seemed easy, like in childhood. So everything seems clear...
- Good sir! came a rattling voice behind him: it was Buttonis son, leaning on a stick, hobbled after him. - Please stop...

Ferry waited for him to approach.
“Don’t blame me on the request,” the old man said, looking down at the ground. “But the priest says that our Venus has become a very rich lady. And now he lives in the palace of the king, which we never dreamed of. It was we who discovered its beauty, picking in the dirty earth, and since then we have been poor, as then .., even in our youth. But with these hands...
Ferry hurriedly handed the old man a coin.
- Enough? he asked mockingly.
And, no longer looking back, the diplomat hurriedly walked towards the near sea. Like half a century ago, the rooster crowed loudly behind the mountain ...

With god Ares, lover

Many years have passed since then. And to this day, archaeologists are digging the land of Miloye Island - in the hope of finding, among other treasures, the lost hands of Venus.

... Not so long ago, a message flashed in our press that a Brazilian millionaire bought the hands of Venus de Milo for $ 35,000 - Only hands! When selling, they took a receipt from him that he must keep silent about his purchase for three years. And for three years the happy owner of the hands of Venus kept the oath.
When the secret of the hands was discovered, archaeologists declared that these hands were anyone else's, but not the Venus de Milo. Simply put, a millionaire was swindled ...

And the world has become so accustomed to the armless Venus from Milos that I sometimes think: maybe she doesn’t need hands? (...)

Venus de Milo

Sculpture is a type Aphrodite of Knidos(Venus pudica, Venus bashful): a goddess holding a fallen robe with her hand (for the first time a sculpture of this type was sculpted by Praxiteles, c. 350 BC). Proportions - 86x69x93 with a height of 164cm

History of the find

The place where the statue was found

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 had the same intention.

Dumont-D'Urville immediately realized that the only way to disrupt the deal (and the statue had already been taken to the port to be sent to Istanbul) was to try to outbid Elena. Having learned how much the Turks paid for the find (and he paid literally pennies), Dumont-Durville, with the consent of the diplomat, offered ten times as much. And a few minutes later a crowd of Greek peasants, led by the former owner of Elena, rushed to the port. The Turks were just loading the statue onto a felucca. The peasants demanded that the Turks increase their wages. He of course refused. And then a battle began, in which the French royal fleet did not participate, but was present. As a result of the battle, the statue fell overboard. The epic of lifting it up began. Moreover, the battles of local importance did not stop, and until the last moment it was not clear who would get this masterpiece. In addition, the bay was deep and rocky. It is not surprising that when the statue was finally raised and recaptured from the Turks, it turned out that she had lost her arms. They were never found. To this day. There is a description of the statue made by Dumont-Durville, which explains why the peasants first called her Elena the Beautiful - from childhood they remembered how Paris gave an apple, and then married Elena. But they forgot that the apple went to the goddess of love Venus.

Classification and location

The statue was acquired in 1821 and is currently stored in a gallery specially prepared for it on the 1st floor of the Louvre. Code: LL 299 (Ma 399).

At the beginning, the statue was attributed to the classical period (510-323 BC). But it turned out that a pedestal was also brought with the statue, on which it was written that Alexander the son of Menides, a citizen of Antioch on the Meander, made this statue. And it turned out that the statue belongs to the Hellenistic period (323-146 BC). Subsequently, the pedestal disappeared and has not yet been found.