Venus de Milo
The Venus de Milo (also Aphrodite of Melos ), a sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite , is one of the most famous examples of Hellenistic art along with the Laocoon group and the Nike of Samothrace . The 2.02 meter high sculpture was created towards the end of the 2nd century BC. The name of the artist has not been passed down.
The sculpture is made of marble from the quarries of the Cycladic island of Paros and represents the Greek goddess Aphrodite. After her discovery, she was named Aphrodites as Venus in the takeover of the Interpretatio Romana Aphrodites . Alternatively, she is also called Aphrodite of Melos (or Milos).
history
The sculpture was discovered on April 8, 1820 by the farmer Georgios Kentrotas on the Cyclades island of Milos , which like all of Greece at that time belonged to the Ottoman Empire , in the vicinity of the ruins of an ancient theater. Kentrotas was looking for stone as a building material when he discovered worked marble and sculpture. He summoned some French who were looking for antique objects. The farmer was not aware of the outstanding importance of the find, the French gave him some coins.
The French ambassador to Constantinople , Charles François Riffardeau de Rivière , was able to acquire the sculpture for France through his contacts. After some turmoil, it was initially supposed to be shipped to Constantinople, but the French, especially the embassy secretary Lodoïs de Martin du Tyrac , knew how to prevent this. Riffardeau donated the sculpture to the French King Louis XVIII. He had it installed in the Louvre in Paris , where it is still located today.
literature
- Alain Pasquier : La Vénus de Milo et les Aphrodites du Louvre. Editions de la Réunion des Musées nationaux, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-7118-0256-6 .
- Bernard Andreae : The Aphrodite of Melos. In: Volker Michael Strocka (Ed.): Masterpieces. International symposium on the occasion of the 150th birthday of Adolf Furtwängler, Freiburg im Breisgau, June 30 - July 3, 2003. Hirmer, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7774-2655-5 , pp. 193-201, full text .
Web links
- Private website on Venus de Milo ( Memento from February 22, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
- Sculpture Hall Basel
- "Venus von Milo" found 200 years ago: the goddess who still causes controversy today , Deutschlandfunk calendar sheet April 8, 2020