Near the city of Plaka, at the foot of the ancient city walls of Melos, the famous Venus de Milo was found. Later this area became an important archaeological site, where an ancient Roman amphitheater and the early Christian catacombs were also found.
The Aphrodite of Milo, better known as the Venus of Milo, is one of the most well-known and admired statues ever. It is a 202 cm high white marble sculpture, considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Hellenistic art. The Venus of Milo can be dated from 130 to 100 BC and is now kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The most reliable sources attribute the Venus de Milo to the Greek sculptor Alexander of Antioch, who lived in the 1st century BC, while in the past some mistakenly attributed it to Praxiteles.
The Venus de Milo is considered by many critics and art historians to be one of the greatest representations of female beauty. The only one to have a contrary opinion was the French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir who called it "a great gendarme".
The great fame that reached the Venus de Milo in the nineteenth century was not only due to its beauty and its perfection, but also to the great "propaganda" that was made by the French authorities. In 1815, in fact, France had to return another Hellenistic masterpiece, the Venus de Medici to the Italians, which had been brought to France by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Venus de Milo, therefore, was "sponsored" by the French to replace the loss of the other work.
The discovery of the Venus of Milo
The Venus de Milo was found on the island of Milos on 8 April 1820 by George Kentrotas, a farmer, while working in his field near the city of Plaka, at the foot of the ancient walls of the city of Melos, the ancient capital of 'island. The statue of Venus was found in pieces: first the bust was found, then the legs covered by a drapery and finally the third element, which allowed to join the bust and legs. It still lacks the arms that have never been found and the original base that has been lost. Every inhabitant of the island of Milos knows this story, try to ask for some information on the discovery of the Venus and everyone will tell it to you adding some curious anecdote.
But why is the Venus de Milo located in the Louvre?
On this point there are conflicting opinions, but what is certain is that after the finding, Kentrotas hid the work, but was soon seized by some Turkish officers, who at the time of the discovery ruled the island of Milos. The news of the discovery came quickly to the ears of a French officer Olivier Voutie, who realized the importance of the discovery if he wanted to immediately take possession.
Here the theories of dividing: some say that with the help of Jules Dumont d'Urville and the Marquis of Rivière, the French ambassador, they succeeded in concluding the purchase with the Ottomans and bringing Venus King Louis as a gift XVIII. On the contrary, there are those who instead confirm that they have the evidence that it was stolen. The mayor of Milos, Gerasimos Damoulakis stated: "At that time we were at war, under Turkish rule, the statue was taken by a French officer and loaded onto a warship, the schooner L'Estafette". The truth about this story remains one of the many mysteries about Greek and Italian works found in the prestigious French museum and what happened next is history. In 1821, after some restoration work, the Venus de Milo was presented to King Louis XVIII and placed at the Louvre museum, where it still stands today.
The question of the presence of the Venus de Milo at the Louvre Museum is still an open case, in fact on the Greek island they claim the Venus. There is a committee for the return of Venus, chaired by the deputy mayor Zambeta Tourlou and supported by the Union of Municipalities of Greece. More information can be found at www.takeaphroditehome.gr. The administration of Milos has also started a collection of signatures with the aim of getting the Venus back by 2020, the bicentennial of the discovery.