While, some believe that her hair and the delicate modelling of her flesh evoke the works of 4th century sculptor Praxiteles, it is widely accepted that the sculpture reflects the innovations that arose in the Hellenistic period during the 3rd and 1st century BCE. 400- 323 BCE) the goddess’s air of detachment, the subtle harmony of her visage and her impassivity are characteristic of 5th century BC sculpture work. 450-400 BCE) as well as the late classical period (c. While the Venus de Milo is influenced by elements from the high classical Greek sculpture period (c. The fabricated propaganda campaign that followed promoted the significance of Venus de Milo as one of Praxiteles most beloved classical pieces, thus delaying any critical scholarly assessment of the sculpture.

To accentuate the value of the Venus de Milo to that of the Medici Venus, the inscription identifying Alexandros of Antioch as the original creator was disregarded, and undue recognition was given to Praxiteles-one of the most revered sculptors of the Classical era. The acquisition of the Venus de Milo was seen as symbolic political compensation by the French to recompense the loss of the Medici Venus- an eminent ancient sculpture that had been returned to Italy in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

This correspondence prompted the French Consul to take possession of the statue and ship it to France, where it was presented as a gift to Louis XVII, who donated the masterpiece to the Louvre. However, as news spread of the discovery, Jules Dumont d’Urville, a French officer from the same fleet as Voutier, notified the French Consul to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople Charles-Francois de Riffardeau, Marquis de Riviere. Olivier Voutier, a French naval officer, assisted Yorgos Kentrotas to recover the statue. Smaller fragments of the sculpture were found close by, importantly, her estranged left arm and hand was found holding an apple with an inscribed plinth referencing her creator as “…Sandros from Anchiochia on the Meander”. The sculpture was discovered in two main parts the upper torso and the legs which are concealed by fine drapery. The statue was unearthed on the Greek island of Melos by a young farmer named Yorgos Kentrotas who found her buried in the ruins of the ancient city of Milos. The Venus de Milo is widely acclaimed as one of the most celebrated examples of Ancient Greek sculpture. : xandros of on the Maiandros, the son of Men andros of Antiochia on the Maiandros, the son of enides, made the statue. Sketch copied from Wilcox Collection of Classical Antiquities, The translation here follows the text in Les Inscriptions de Thespies, but even if the text is restored differently to make Alexandros a citizen of Antiochia on the Maiandros, it seems unlikely that, as some have suggested, a poet in a competition on the Greek mainland was the same man as the sculptor on the island of Melos. Inscription B was discovered later, at Thespiai in Boeotia it is a fragment of a list of victors in the Mouseia games ( see Syll_457 ). According to the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, this is the sole occurrence of the name. The name suggested for the father, Mēnides, is very unusual. The sketch suggests that the letter before -andros is likely to have been Σ rather than Ξ, suggesting a name such as Hagesandros rather than Alexandros. Two things should be said about the possible restorations: Meijer in the Ancient History Encyclopedia, it fitted with the statue perfectly.Īs with many Greek inscriptions, some letters in this inscription are illegible. Unfortunately the stone has now been lost, but sketches of it were made at the time it was discovered, and according to the informative article by B.

The statue base containing inscription A is generally thought to belong to the Venus de Milo. The epigraphic evidence for this assumption is shown here. It is often stated ( for instance in Wikipedia ) that the statue was probably made by Alexandros of Antioch, the son of Menides, an otherwise unknown sculptor. The Venus de Milo is one of the most famous pieces of Greek sculpture. Translations of Hellenistic Inscriptions: 200īASE OF A STATUE: (?) VENUS DE MILO Greek text: IG_, IThesp_173 Inscription 200 : Base of (?) Venus de Milo

Venus de milo statue