Although incomplete, the Venus de Milo is one of the most famous works of art of all time.
From being accidentally discovered on a Greek island in 1820 with missing parts, to having to be secretly evacuated from the Louvre Museum during World War II, the Venus de Milo statue has a dramatic and fascinating history.
The Goddess of Love in the Field
The Goddess of Love at the Louvre Museum, Paris.
Despite being incomplete, the Venus de Milo is one of the most renowned artworks of all time. This armless sculpture is believed to date back to the Hellenistic period of ancient Greece, approximately 2,200 years ago, on the island of Milos.
In 1820, French naval officer Olivier Voutier sailed to Milos, an island in the Aegean Sea, then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. As an amateur archaeologist, Voutier came to search for antiques and did not expect to discover a magnificent piece of art thousands of years old.
On the early morning of April 8, 1820, a farmer named Yorgos Kentrotas was digging in his field on the island of Milos for materials from the earth. The island is home to many buried ancient ruins, and he often excavated stones to build houses and fences.
In the neighboring field, Olivier Voutier and his associates were also searching for ancient artifacts. When Kentrotas unearthed a part of a large marble statue instead of a building stone as he had thought, he exclaimed in surprise, prompting the Frenchmen to abandon their work and rush over to see. They were all astonished when the entire statue, except for the two arms, was revealed. Subsequently, the statue’s large fragments were brought up and placed in Kentrotas’s sheep pen.
Voutier, knowledgeable in archaeology, contacted Count de Marcellus, the secretary to the French ambassador in the Ottoman Empire, to suggest purchasing the statue. They then paid 250 francs to the local officials and another 750 francs to Kentrotas to acquire the piece.
The Venus de Milo stands at 203 cm tall and is crafted from marble that may have once been brightly painted, though the color has faded over time. Additionally, there are signs that it was once adorned with jewelry, including a bracelet, earrings, and a diadem.
The only notable deficiency of this unique statue is the absence of its two arms. This may have occurred due to the statue being buried over centuries; when excavated, the arms had shattered and could not be restored.
A Treasure of the Louvre Museum
Statue of Venus de Milo.
In February 1821, the Venus de Milo arrived in Paris and was presented to King Louis XVIII as a gift. Shortly thereafter, the king gifted the statue to the Louvre Museum.
The museum director, Count de Forbin, was thrilled with this treasure. Initially, he believed that the sculpture dated back to the Classical period of Greece (circa 510 to 323 BC). However, this was not the case.
Researchers soon identified a pedestal found with the Venus de Milo inscribed with the text “Alexandros, son of Menides, a citizen of Antioch on the Maeander, created this statue.”
Very little is known about Alexandros, the creator of the sculpture. However, Antioch was not founded until around 280 BC, implying that the statue likely dates from the Hellenistic period.
Disappointed that the goddess Venus statue did not belong to the Classical period and thus could not be appreciated more, the Louvre Museum paid scholars to write articles asserting that this sculpture belonged to the Classical artistic style of Praxiteles—a fabrication that the museum maintained for over 130 years. In subsequent years, the inscribed pedestal went missing, further adding to the mystery surrounding this statue.
To this day, experts remain uncertain about whom the statue was intended to depict. Many scholars believe it represents Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and fertility. However, since the ancient people of Milos particularly revered the sea goddess Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon, it is possible that the statue was created to honor her.
Evacuation During War
For decades, the Venus de Milo resided at the Louvre Museum, captivating generations of visitors and gradually becoming one of the most famous sculptures in history.
But in 1939, the threat of World War II quickly reached Paris. To preserve the museum’s rich collection, the management devised a plan to hide the Venus statue and other valuable artworks from the Nazis.
On August 25, 1939, officials closed the museum for “renovation,” while workers secretly packed thousands of precious works into wooden crates and loaded them onto trucks. A convoy of about 200 vehicles transported the treasures to various safe locations across France.
The Venus de Milo was moved to the Château de Valençay in central France. The museum even replaced the statue with a plaster replica, welcoming the Nazis when they arrived in 1940.
Thanks to these efforts, the Venus de Milo survived to witness another day—the liberation of Paris in 1944. After the war ended, the goddess was returned to the Louvre.
Today, the statue remains one of the most cherished artifacts of the Louvre Museum, even more beloved for its imperfections.
Due to the disagreement among many art historians regarding the original position of Venus de Milo’s arms, the museum decided to keep and display it as an unfinished piece. Currently, the Venus de Milo is one of the museum’s most valuable assets in Paris, alongside Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
