Image · Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Venus de Milo
Alexandros of Antioch (attributed) · c. 130–100 BC
About this masterpiece
Carved from luminous Parian marble in the late Hellenistic period, the Venus de Milo depicts Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. The figure stands in a graceful S-curve, her drapery slipping from her hips and revealing an idealized nude torso. The arms have been lost since antiquity, and scholars continue to debate what she once held — perhaps an apple, a shield, or a spear.
Historical significance
Discovered in 1820 by a peasant on the Aegean island of Milos, the statue was acquired for King Louis XVIII and presented to the Louvre in 1821. The French actively promoted her as a rival to the Italian Venus de’ Medici, and she rapidly became one of the most celebrated images of Classical beauty in the world.
