One of the most famous ancient Greek statues was discovered on the Greek island of Milos in the beginning of the 19th century. This statue is called Aphrodite of Milos, or else Venus of Milos. Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
The statue depicts a woman with young, energetic body, smooth contours and a twisting torso. She is having a long drapery wrapped around her waist, which is styled in a way that can create a play of ight and shadow. Her face and her expression are supposed to show her god-like beauty. Her hair is tied.
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This great statue was found in Milos in 1820 by a peasant named Georgios Kentrotas. As he didn’t know his historical importance, he decided to keep it in his farm. That time there was a French sailor named Jules Dumont d' Urville on the island.
He saw it and immediately understood the importance of this discovery. So he arranged through the French ambassador to Turkey at that time to have the French government purchase the statue.
The purchase nearly did not happen. The message took a long time to get to the French |
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However, during the transportation or the argument, the hands were cut off the statue and lost.It is believed that the right hand was lifting her drapery and the left hand was holding an apple. The apple was a symbol of beauty for the ancient Greeks.
This statue is today one of the most famous works of the ancient Greek art and is often used as the symbol of Milos island. The original statue is kept today in Louvre but there is a replica of this statue in the Archaeological Museum of Milos. |
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