Louvre Musée , Venus of Milo
Sully 1er étage hellenistique
Venus of Milos
The Venus of Milos is a marble sculpture dating back to the 2nd century BC and her real name is Aphrodite of Melos. She depicts the greek goddess of love and beauty and it’s a beautiful example of hellenistic period of the greek sculpture.
She was found in the 19th century by a farmer working his field on the island of Melos. She was meant as a present to the Sultan of Constantinople, but the French succeeded in buying it for their king Louis XVIII.
When Venus arrived at the Louvre, she was reassembled; in fact, she was found in 2 main pieces: the upper torso and the lower drapped legs.
This is the original. There are just 3 elments which hab been added: the extremity of the nose, the lower lip and the big toe. The Venus is 2,2 m (80 inches) high, but if we have a look at her head, we realize that it’s rather small when compared to the rest of the body. The head fits 8 times into the body.
Sculptures and statues from this era were usually carved out of several blocks of stone and carefully pieced together. It seems that the Venus of Milo has been carved from at least six to seven blocks of marble, which we can see by the hole on her left arm. Other attachement holes seem to be signs of armbands earrings and necklace.
The goddess is half naked and has a drapping wrapped around her legs. The original plinth and arms have been lost. Concerning her arms, there are more hypothesis. The most credible one inferres that the right arm was lowered across the torso with the hand holding the drappery. In her left hand, she probably held (below her eye level) a mirror or the golden apple of the Jugement of Paris.
We see a contrast between the curves of the body and the lines of the drappery; there is just one exeption - the spot of her projecting knee.
Venus of Milos is an example of idealized feminin beauty, which we can see very well on her face and body. The features of her face are very fine and exact. Although her look is fixed, we don’t know what she’s looking at. But I would even say that she is rather sad. People often consider that she is cold, but I don’t really agree with this opinion. She depicts sensuality.
This sculpture is inscribed in a helicoïdal composition, which means that it has been sculpted to be seen from all sides.
Her back project slightly and her hair is very well dressed.
All in all, Venus is very well sculpted. We see pure lines and a powerful femininity which gives the impression of litheness and even majesty. The hips thrusting sideways, the expression of her face and the treatment of the drapping make looking at this white marble a pleasurable experience.