From doubts pertaining to thy charms;
The meaning of thy bended knee,
The secret of thy vanished arms.”
—J. L. Stoddard.
This beautiful Greek original, the Venus of Milo, has been called “the marble realization of the dream of fair women.” While it is universally recognized as a great work of art, nothing is definitely known as to the period or school to which it belongs.
It was discovered in 1820, by a peasant on the Island of Melos, in the niche of a wall which had long been buried. The French ambassador at Constantinople purchased and presented it to Louis XVIII., king of France, and it is now in the Louvre.
The statue is made of two blocks of marble joined above the drapery which envelops the lower limbs. The tip of the nose and the foot which projects beyond the drapery have been restored by modern artists. The restoration of the arms has often been unsuccessfully attempted.
In spite of the mutilated limbs of this marble Venus, she holds undisputed sway over the hearts of all beholders.
