Where is Venus de Milo located. Venus de Milo is the ideal of female beauty. Parameters and age of the statue
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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- in the database of the Louvre (fr.)
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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! Happy staying, countrywomen, thank you for the light, we'll give it 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 of 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.
On the topic of why the Venus de Milo stands in the Louvre without arms, there are many jokes that play on the position of a modern woman who is busy with too many things. There were also suggestions, sometimes quite bold, about the possible direction of the upper limbs and their bend. Many sculptors and painters have tried to restore their most likely position, but success has been highly controversial. The modern visitor to one of the greatest museums of art is left to guess what the hands of Venus were like and enjoy what is left of the sculpture.
About the name
The sculpture supposedly depicts the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, who was called Venus by the Romans. She was found on the island of Melos (in another transcription of Milos), in the Aegean Sea. Why she was called Venus de Milo, and not Aphrodite of Melos, is no longer important, the name has taken root, everyone is used to it, and, as they usually say in such cases, it happened historically.
History of the find
The facts are this. In 1820, the lieutenant of the French fleet, Olivier Voutier, while his ship was anchored in the harbor of Melos, decided to diversify the boredom of the raid with a trip to the island. There local residents from time to time, interesting finds were discovered that could be purchased inexpensively. The officer noticed that one of the peasants, dismantling the ancient masonry of the wall to use stone blocks as building material seems to have found something. After examining the subject, Voutier realized that it was top part statue of a woman. He immediately recognized that this find was extraordinary and of value. The authorities, having received a report from the lieutenant, ordered to purchase a sculpture from a peasant for a relatively modest amount. The Venus was carefully packaged, brought to France in 1821 and shown to Louis XVIII, who gave it to the Louvre, where it remains to this day.
Parameters and age of the statue
Art critics of the Louvre attributed the sculpture to the masterpieces of the Greek classical era. Later studies, however, "rejuvenated" Venus, a more thorough analysis of the manner and technique of execution indicated that it was carved from marble later, about a century before the birth of Christ, in the so-called Hellenistic age. The statue is composed of two tightly fitting fragments and measures 6 feet 7 inches (just over two meters) from head to toe. Established with a high degree of probability and the author of the sculpture, this is a little-known Greek artist named Alexandros of Antioch.
Were there hands?
There is an assumption that Venus de Milo lost her hands not in ancient times, but immediately after her acquisition by Lieutenant Voitier. As if because of a beautiful work of art, French and Turkish sailors argued, and in the course of a showdown they damaged the statue.
Most scientists today believe, however, that at the time of discovery, the hands were no longer enough. Serving as an object of worship, in its original form, the statue was painted and draped, and besides, the priests put metal bracelets on her wrists. It is possible that Aphrodite held an apple in her palm.
Aphrodite was one of the twelve Olympian gods. She symbolized love, strong marriages, and was considered the goddess of fertility. It was said that she had a cup filled with wine, and if someone takes a sip, she will gain eternal youth. There were also rumors that wherever Venus set foot, flowers immediately appeared and herbs bloomed in that place, symbolizing the goddess herself. She had only to appear somewhere - everyone revered her beauty, people, animals and even gods bowed their heads in delight before her.
Tall, slender and with golden hair framing a beautiful delicate face - she was the very personification of eternal youth, love and fertility. One of the sculptors, but to this day they have not found out who exactly, decided to capture her beauty in white marble, and today Aphrodite can be admired in the Louvre building, where she is depicted by a statue of Venus.
Why is the statue of Venus missing arms?
There is an old legend about the absence of her hands. The essence of the myth is that one talented sculptor wandered around cities and countries in search of the incredible beauty of a girl who could serve as a model for a young talent. It so happened that he found such a beauty on the island of Milos. He invited the young girl to pose for the sculpture of Venus de Milo. And since the girl even then liked this talented guy, she agreed with pleasure. In the breaks of creation, they gave themselves to love, giving themselves to each other, and one day, when the sculpture was almost finished, all that remained was to create hands, the lovers again indulged in pleasures. Then he grabbed the artist heart attack, and he died, leaving the world with a sculpture without hands.
But this is just a legend, in fact, the statue of Venus lost its arms when the Turks tried to take it away from the French. The statue itself was made around 200 BC, during the reign of Alexander the Great, and was discovered in 1820 by an ordinary peasant named Yurgos.
How was the statue found?
He had no idea about archeology, but discovered the sculpture of Venus de Milo, just plowing a piece of land, trying to feed his large family. Digging the ground, he accidentally stumbled upon something solid. Trying to get the object that interfered with him, he dug deeper and deeper. When he saw white marble, he was very surprised and at the same time delighted, because it was possible to get some kind of proceeds for the stone (at that time, as he knew, people used such a stone when building houses). Having dug out the whole stone - his surprise knew no bounds, because in front of him lay a two-meter, marvelous woman made of marble, mixed with earth, the picture was even more amazing. The statue was, as it were, in a niche, where there were a couple of not so large statues, and a few more trinkets.
Yurgos was indescribably delighted with the find, because even without special knowledge, and not understanding antiques, he understood that he had one of the greatest creations in front of him, for which you can get much more than for stone bryls for houses. With the help of his friends, he dragged the statue into a barn, and then, as they say, sold it to the local secretary of the French embassy in Istanbul (at that time, Greece, as well as this island, were ruled by the Turks). The French ambassador, in turn, sent this greatest sculpture without sleeves as a gift to the French art museum - the Louvre. So, in the end, the sculpture ended up in France, where you can admire it today. The sculpture of Venus de Milo was named so precisely because of the island where it was found. People from all over the world coming to the Louvre go to look at this beauty, despite the fact that the museum is full of masterpieces and other equally famous creators of art, such as Michelangelo, Francois Boucher, Theodore Gericault, Leonardo da Vinci, and thousands of other exhibits from different countries and times.
But shortly after the discovery, it was found out that two more people saw the sculpture of Venus de Milo, these were Materrer, as well as the famous Dumont d'Urville, who subsequently left notes regarding the statue of Venus. In his notes, the sailor Materror described that the consul, at their request with Dumont D'Urville, to show the niche where the statue was found, took them away and demonstrated it. He said that in this niche there was the statue of a beautiful girl itself, but she had some flaw: the statue was practically without arms, and the tip of the nose was cut off.
But, since Dumont d'Urville was a researcher, he periodically sent his report to the French Academy of Sciences. In his report, he described in detail the statue itself, to the slightest bends, but it was also reported there that the sculpture without hands did have hands! In one of them, lifting it up, she held an apple, and the second held a cloth that hugged her hips and covered her nakedness. Later, - it was indicated in the records - the hands were separated from the body. So at the moment there were two stories that contradicted each other.
So, the truth is that a few years later Materrere admitted that the statue had hands, but the right one, which held the robe, was damaged in the bend area. The same version, after another 20 years, was confirmed by the son of the peasant himself.
Where lies the truth?
But where did the hands of the statue of Venus go? The answer to this question also exists. Durville and Materrere went to look at the sculpture, but, unfortunately, the priest wanted a lot of money, and the sailors could not afford the statue. Having visited one of the evenings later, D'Urville told the secretary of the French embassy about the miraculous find, and he, without wasting a minute, went to the peasant for one of the greatest creations. But, while the secretary got to the peasant, this statue was already loaded onto the ship. The fact is that Yurgos dropped the price a little, and the local priest decided to buy the sculpture in order to provide it as a gift to the translator of the Pasha of Constantinople. Seeing that the desired item was practically slipping out of his hands, the secretary initially tried to negotiate, but the priest was inexorable, and then a real fight broke out between them, in which the French gained the upper hand. During the same fight, the sculpture of Venus de Milo was beaten off by hands. That's why Materrere tried to hide the truth in his memoirs, he was just afraid of a diplomatic scandal.
In our time, it is the absence of hands from the statue of Venus that gives it a peculiar zest, because now the sculpture has not only beauty, but also its own history. Many tourists come to the Louvre to hear the legends and admire the beauty with their own eyes.
She is flawless. The movement of the fabric is intricately detailed and the lines of the body are just perfect. Created over two thousand years ago, it seems modern. The figure surprises with proportionality and harmony. Most often, she is identified with the goddess of love, and is called Venus, although the Greek name of this goddess is not Venus, but Aphrodite. And it is called Milos by the name of the place where it was discovered about two hundred years ago by a Greek fisherman - the islands of Milos.
Many mysteries are connected with the work, one of them concerns the lost hands of the goddess. There are several suggestions about what their position was and what Venus held.
One of the most common and well-founded assumptions is that in one hand she held an apple, and with the other she held falling clothes. As evidence, the words of the peasants who discovered the statue are cited, which confirm that this fruit was put into the hand of Venus. The assumption has a mythological justification. The goddess of love received an apple with the inscription "the most beautiful" from Paris, who preferred it to Athena and Hera.
But not everyone agrees with this. There is also a popular version that the location of the body of Venus, in particular, the turn of the shoulders and torso, indicates that the goddess was spinning. Accordingly, in one hand she held the yarn, and with the other she controlled the thread and spindle.
They confirm their hypothesis with a digital reconstruction of the statue, proving that the pose of the statue corresponds to that which the body of the spinner takes. Indeed, the position of the torso of the sculpture is very similar to the position of spinning women. Such a composition was often depicted on antique vessels.
Another version suggests that the sculptor sculpted the goddess of victory Nike. In one hand she holds the shield of the god of war Mars, and with the other she writes the names of warriors who became famous for victories in battles. This interpretation provides an explanation for the proud look of the goddess.
There is also a hypothesis about the original pairing of the sculpture. Left hand Venus was allegedly leaning on the shoulder of Mars, the god of war. There are also less popular assumptions: the goddess is supplied with a mirror or a laurel wreath.
History of the find.
The famous statue was discovered on April 8, 1820 in ruins ancient city on Milo Island, a farmer named Yorgos Kentrotas, along with French sailor Olivier Coutier. 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.
Kentrotas found the sculpture along with the hands, or rather with fragments of hands. They tried to reconstruct them, but the hands turned out to be "too rough and inelegant." Modern art historians believe that this does not mean at all that the hands did not belong to Venus, they were just badly damaged. When the statue was transported to Paris in 1820, both the arms and the original plinth were lost.
There is a version that the pedestal of Venus disappeared not by chance.
The creation of the statue is attributed to Alexandrov of Antioch - it is believed that he carved this masterpiece from stone between 130 and 100 BC. The statue was found with a pedestal plate, on which the name of the creator was engraved. Subsequently, the pedestal mysteriously disappeared.
Perhaps the clue to his disappearance lies in the fact that 19th-century art historians 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.
There are numerous reconstructions in which Venus de Milo is depicted with hands in various versions. Whatever it was, but the hands of Venus were holding something.
sources
1. The name "Venus de Milo" is misleading.
Venus - among the Romans, Aphrodite - among the Greeks.
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.
Statue from the island of Milos.
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
Masterpiece of 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
Amphitrite and Poseidon.
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
Paris. Louvre. Venus de Milo.
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
Statue without hands.
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
Venus de Medici is the rival of the Venus de Milo.
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
Renoir questioned the beauty of Venus.
Perhaps the most famous of the ill-wishers 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
One of the castles in the French province.
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 Michelangelo, had been removed from the Louvre for safekeeping in various castles in the French countryside.
11. Venus got robbed
Venus de Milo. Louvre. Paris.
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.
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