50 Fun Facts About Venus De Milo

Which goddess is the Venus de Milo believed to depict?

Venus is her Roman counterpart; alternative suggestions include a sea goddess, a Muse, Nemesis or Sappho.

On which Greek island was the statue discovered in 1820?

The island was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

In which year did the Venus de Milo go on display at the Louvre?

It arrived just as the museum was returning works Napoleon had seized across Europe.

When does the modern consensus place the statue's carving?

It is a Hellenistic work, perhaps made between 160 and 110 BC.

What kind of marble is the Venus de Milo carved from?

The same pure-white marble from Paros was used for other Louvre masterpieces.

How tall is the statue?

That makes her larger than life size.

Besides both arms, which parts of the statue are missing?

Restorations have been minimal: the nose tip, lower lip, a big toe and some drapery.

What object was found alongside the statue in a separate marble hand?

It led to the identification of the goddess holding the apple of discord; 2010 analysis backed the link.

On what date did a Greek farmer uncover the statue?

He was digging in the ruins near the ancient theatre when a French sailor spotted the find.

Which French naval officer witnessed the discovery and urged the farmer to keep digging?

He was a 23-year-old ensign on the schooner Estafette and later fought in the Greek War of Independence.

What was the name of the farmer who found the statue?

He was keen to sell, and within ten days the French vice-consul had come to look.

Which explorer reported the find to the French ambassador in Constantinople?

He later explored Antarctica; his ship Chevrette had no room aboard for the statue.

Who was the French ambassador who agreed to buy the statue?

His assistant, the Comte de Marcellus, was sent to Milos to make the purchase.

What had happened by the time Marcellus reached Milos?

A priest had bought it as a gift for the Sultan's interpreter; the French got the sale annulled.

Which French king had the Venus installed in his national museum?

On Quatremère de Quincy's advice she was shown as found rather than restored.

Why did Quatremère de Quincy argue against restoring the statue?

Restoring antiquities was standard practice at the time; the Venus was an exception.

Which honour did Dumont d'Urville receive for his role in acquiring the statue?

He was also promoted to lieutenant and drew the notice of the Academy of Sciences.

Which sculptor is named on a now-lost inscription found near the statue?

The plinth read '[...]andros, son of Menides, of Antioch on the Maeander'; the link is disputed.

Why must the inscription date from after 280 BC?

Its letter forms suggest 150 to 50 BC.

What other talent do inscriptions at Thespiae credit the statue's presumed sculptor with?

He seems to have been a wandering artist working on commission.

Which German scholar first argued in 1893 that the statue was later than scholars thought?

His dating of roughly 150-50 BC is still widely accepted; his son Wilhelm became a famous conductor.

When did 19th-century scholars generally think the statue had been made?

Three French scholars had disagreed within a month of its arrival at the Louvre.

Which sea goddess did Salomon Reinach propose the statue represents?

He thought she was grouped with a Poseidon found on Melos in 1878.

What is the 'most plausible' reconstruction of the arms, per Rachel Kousser?

Wilhelm Fröhner suggested it in 1876 and Furtwängler expanded on it.

What filled the hole below one of the statue's breasts?

It is one clue to how the lost limb was positioned.

Which side of the statue is less finely finished, suggesting it was viewed from the front?

The drapery is also more elaborately carved on one side than the other.

On which leg does the Venus de Milo rest her weight?

The other leg is raised and her head turned to the left, a classic counterpoise.

Which art historian called her 'the last great work of antique Greece'?

He described her as 'a baroque composition with classic effect'.

Which statue did the Milos find displace as the popular symbol of beauty, per Clark?

Within a few years of 1820 she had taken its 'central, impregnable position'.

Where was the statue sent for safety during the First World War?

It sat in the Church of the Jacobins; in the Second World War it went to a Loire château.

Where was the Venus hidden during the Second World War?

A plaster replica stood in its place at the Louvre.

To which country did the Venus travel in 1964, its only trip abroad since 1821?

It was exhibited in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Why was the statue removed from the museum in 1870?

It had been in the Salle du Tibre until 1848 and then the Salle de l'Isis.

What did the new 1880s pedestal in the Salle de l'Isis allow visitors to do?

The approach was filled with other ancient Venus statues at the same time.

Roughly how many poems has the Venus de Milo inspired?

Parnassian poets helped make her canonical; early 20th-century verse dwelt on her erotic appeal.

Roughly how many visitors see the Venus de Milo each year?

It is perhaps the most famous ancient Greek statue in the world.

Which surrealist made 'Venus de Milo with Drawers' in 1936?

Magritte painted a plaster copy with a pink body, blue robe and white head.

How did René Magritte treat a plaster copy of the Venus?

Yves Klein later produced a copy in International Klein Blue.

Which 1932 Marlene Dietrich film's poster showed her posed as the statue?

In 2003 Eva Green recreated the statue in a sheet and black gloves in The Dreamers.

Which Hollywood actress had measurements closest to the Venus, per Photoplay in 1928?

Clara Bow and Jean Harlow were both photographed posing as the Venus for magazines.

Which of these brands has used the Venus de Milo in its advertising, per the article?

Levi's, Mercedes-Benz and an early GTE speakerphone also borrowed her.

What was Milos famous for exporting as early as 15,000 years ago?

The volcanic glass was traded far and wide for razor-sharp tools before farming began.

Which other headless masterpiece from the same island marble stands with the Venus in Paris?

The Nike, from about 190 BC, has also lost her arms.

What is the term for a figure standing with its weight on one foot, as the Venus does?

It first appeared in Greek art in the early 5th century BC.

According to Dumont d'Urville, in what kind of setting was the Venus de Milo found?

Together with a gymnasiarch's inscription, the niche suggests the statue once stood in the gymnasium of Melos.

Who suggested the statue was carved by the same sculptor who made the Poseidon of Melos?

Isméni Trianti went further, attributing three more Melian sculptures to the same hand, including a colossal god.

Which 1932 Marlene Dietrich poster and which 2003 film both recreated the statue's pose?

In The Dreamers, Eva Green posed as the statue wearing only a white sheet and black arm-length gloves.

Which artist produced a copy of the statue in his own trademark ultramarine blue?

Niki de Saint-Phalle used a reproduction in a performance, while Dalí based The Hallucinogenic Toreador on the statue.

In which Louvre room did the Venus de Milo stand from the 1820s until 1848?

It then moved to the Salle de l'Isis, where it stayed until being evacuated during the Paris Commune in 1870.

A plaster cast of the statue was sent where in 1822, a year after the Louvre got the original?

Another cast was later displayed at the Crystal Palace as photographs and bronze copies spread its fame.