The is an Ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous of the art of Ancient Greek Sculpture . It is believed to depict Aphrodite (called Venus by the Romans ), the Greek goddess of love and beauty. It is a Marble sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (80 inches) high, but without its arms and its original Plinth . From an inscription on its now-lost plinth, it is thought to be the work of Alexandros Of Antioch ; it was earlier mistakenly attributed to the master sculptor Praxiteles .
The statue dates to about 130 BCE . Despite this relatively late date, its composition is a mixture of earlier styles from the Classical period of Greek sculpture. It is not known exactly what aspect of Venus the statue originally depicted. It is generally thought to have been a representation of ''Venus Victrix'' holding the golden apple presented to her by Paris Of Troy (see also the Judgement Of Paris ). This would also have served as a pun on the name of the island Milos , which means "apple" in the Greek Language . A fragment of a forearm and hand with an apple were found near the statue and are thought to be remnants of its arms. After the statue was found, numerous attempts were made to reconstruct its pose, though it was never restored.
(A drawing by Adolf Furtwängler suggesting its original form can be found in an article by Kousser.)
The statue was found in two pieces in 1820 on the Aegean Island of Milos , also called Melos or Milo, by a peasant named Yorgos Kentrotas. He hid it from the authorities but was later discovered by Turkish officials, who seized the sculpture. A French naval officer, Jules Dumont D'Urville , recognized its significance and arranged for a purchase by the French ambassador to Turkey, the Marquis de Riviere. After some repair work, the statue was presented to King Louis XVIII in 1821 . He eventually presented it to the Louvre Museum in Paris , where it still stands on public display.
The statue's great fame in the 19th century was not simply the result of its admitted beauty, but also owed much to a major propaganda effort by the French authorities. In 1815 France had returned the Medici Venus , to the Italians after it had been previously looted from Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte . The Venus, regarded as one of the finest Classical sculptures in existence caused the French to consciously promote the Venus de Milo as a greater treasure than that which they had recently lost. It was duly praised by artists and critics, who regarded it as the epitome of graceful female beauty; however, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was clearly not following the script when he dismissed it as a "big gendarme".
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : The Next Mutation introduced a "politically correct" female mutant turtle character whose Chinese name was Mei Pei Chi; the four male mutant turtles, named her Venus DeMilo instead. The character was extremely short lived.
- In episode 2F06 ("Homer Bad Man") of the TV show The Simpsons , Homer attends a candy convention and observes a Gummi figurine lying in glass case (picture) . The proprietor informs him that the gummi is "the rarest gummi of them all, the gummi Venus de Milo, carved by gummi artisans who work exclusively in the medium of gummi", upon which Marge requests that they stop saying "gummi" so much. Homer proceeds to steal the Gummi Venus de Milo. The green gummi was drawn as a fairly accurate replica of the actual sculpture.
- The American humorist Will Rogers once sent his young niece a postcard of the Venus de Milo with the message: "See what will happen to you if you don't stop biting your fingernails."
- In episode 29 of popular Japanese Anime GetBackers Ginji and Ban search for the missing arms of Venus de Milo.
- In the popular anime Sailor Moon , Sailor Venus quotes, "What am I? Venus de Milo?!"
- In the beginning of an Arthur episode, it revealed that the arms came off by Arthur throwing a frisbee at it. Before, it had her holding D.W.
- The Venus de Milo appears in the Red Room, an enigmatic dream location in David Lynch and Mark Frost's television series, " Twin Peaks ."
- On Transatlantic's "SMPTe" album, Venus de Milo is mentioned in the lyrics to "All of the Above Part V. - Undying Love".
- The rock band AC/DC , in the lyrics to their song "Touch Too Much" describe a woman as having "the body of venus with arms."
- Rock and Roll legend Chuck Berry , in his song "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" suggests that "Milo Venus...lost both her arms in a wrassling match" to win herself the eponymous subject of the song.
- Popular singer '' Jewel '' personifies the statue in "Jupiter", a song from her album "Spirit".
- In the Disney movie '' Hercules '', the statue was seen losing the arms from a stray discus.
- In an episode of the animated television show '' The Tick '' entitled "Armless but Not Harmless," the Tick and Arthur fight a villain named Venus with a sidekick named Milo and a weapon that causes their arms to fall off.
- Jon Bon Jovi ( of the band BON JOVI ), in his solo album "Destination anywhere" refers to Venus de Milo in one of the songs. In the song "Queen of New Orleans", Jon compares
- In Marvel Comics ' title X-statix , there is a character named Venus Dee Milo who, due to her body being made up entirely of energy, has no visible arms and wears a containment suit with gloves.
- Prince called one of his songs "Venus De Milo" from his 1986 album "Parade".
- Philosopher Ayn Rand regarded the sculpture as her favorite.
- A Budweiser Television Commercial depicts the statue as having been sculpted with a bottle of Bud Light Beer in each hand. Shortly before the statue is unveiled, two of the sculptor's assistants break the statue's arms off in an attempt to steal the bottles.
- American artist Jim Dine frequently depicts the Venus de Milo, though without a head.
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