MILO and the Greek Antiquities in the Louvre Museum - Sully Wing Room 344

 

Venus de Milo. Louvre Museum, Paris, France

One of the three (3) popular art works at the Louvre Museum is at the Sully Wing, Room 345.  The original Greek marble sculpture named Venus de Milo arrived at the Louvre in 1821.  It was discovered on the island of Melos in the Cyclades (Greece) in 1820.  This statue is said to be dated from about 120 BC by Alexandros of Antioch (not stated in the Louvre for some reason) and depicts the goddess of

love and beauty, Aphrodite, Venus to the Romans and the mother of Eros (Cupid in Latin).  The sculpture, Venus de Milo, have been famous from day one.  This masterpiece  is one of the very few ancient Greek artworks survived overtime. It meets the Greek art criteria, the geometric proportions and its unique beauty.  The face is three times the length of its nose.  The statue may have arms and hands.  But the Louvre prefers not to fully restore to preserve what is left from the original state.  Further, the statue is loved for its imperfections and incompleteness.

One of the artworks plundered by Napoleon Bonaparte from Italy during its conquest  in 1815 was the Venus de' Medici, one of the few samples of Greek artworks.  It was, however, returned by the French Government in 1820.  The French felt a lost of treasure.  The British have the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon.  To fill in the hole of a missing pride having ancient Greek art, the statue, Venus de Milo was promoted greater than the Venus de' Medici.  This was greatly criticized by the famous impressionist, Renoir.  The sculptor of Venus de Milo is even contested.  The plinth on to where the name of the  artist was curved had been missing since its arrival in Paris.  It is rumored it was intentionally disposed.  Some experts say the statue, Venus de Milo, was done by Alexandros of Antioch who was a wandering artist sometime during the Hellinistic time, 1st to 2nd century BC.  It was at first claimed by the curator in Louvre that Venus de Milo was an original masterpiece of Praxiteles of Athens, the most renowned sculptor in the 4th century BC-the classical and oldest era.  The works done in the classical era were more respected than the Hellenistic period.

I can't help to feel so sorry when I have learned that thousands or maybe millions of the great masterpiece of sculptures and temples  during the classical era had been  disappearing.  There are just very few of them now and it is a national pride for a country like France and Italy to have a possession of them.   What happened to these Greek artworks who are considered the oldest and the model and inspiration of the artists in the succeeding era?  Its value were not realized at that time, the temples were dismantled  and the sculptures were cooked to produce the best lime for building homes, walls and roads.  Fortunately, there were few  set aside in a cave or niche probably for future use and these were discovered by the voyagers from the other countries in the 19th century before Greece was freed from the Ottoman rule.

In the spring of 1820, a French navy ship anchored in the island of Melos in Greece.  One of the passengers is a young navy officer, Olivier Voutier, who was an art lover especially those of ancient Greece.  He saw a theater ruins and walked around.  He was overwhelmed  with the lot of fragments of work of arts in marble such as sculptures, bust, foot, draped statues without head, hand and feet.  He then saw a peasant, Yorgos Kentrotas, who was searching for a stone to reinforce his wall.  Olivier then saw Yorgos pulling  from the chapel ruins an upper part of a statue.  The peasant knew the uncovered stone would be of no use to him, he was about to bury it with rubble.  The peasant noticed the young navy officer was interested, the peasant offered the French officer to buy it from him. The purchased was referred to the French consul to ask approval for the acquisition.  Yorgos, the peasant, received another offer to present the statue to the Ottoman consul.  Yorgos could not wait for the French, he sold the statue to the Ottoman.  When it was about to be loaded for sailing to Constantinople, the French arrived.  After some negotiations, the statue was sailed to France and is now known as the Venus de Milo.

During the occupation by the Germans of almost the whole Europe, the Nazis were stealing all the famous artworks to fill in the unrealized Führermuseum by Hitler.  Latter was planning to build this museum and to be the greatest in Europe by placing all the famous artworks in Europe apparently, by looting from the countries the Germans had occupied in the 1940.  The director of the Louvre, Jacques Jaujard, managed  to empty Louvre of its treasures before the arrival of the Nazis.  These were replaced of plasters.  When the Nazi forces reopened the Louvre during their occupation and checking the artworks around, they thought to be looking at the original Venus de Milo.

In 1963, Venus de Milo was loaned to Japan.    Around 1.7 million Japanese visitors came to see this beautiful Greek statue.  More so, Venus de Milo was featured in the music video by Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

The other two equally famous as Venus de Milo in the Louvre is the Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and the unknown sculptor of the The Victory of Samothrace.

Hermes Fastening his sandal

Adjacent to the room of Venus de Milo is the Room 344 at the Sully wing, surrounded by the Roman copies of the lost Greek Antiquities.  Roman copies of very good quality as that of the statues around Italy.  Most of these artworks were purchased by French state from the Borghese collection from Italy (by force?).  The owner, Camillo Borghese was known to be the brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte who was then the Emperor of France.

Hermes Fastening his sandal is roman copy of the lost Greek bronze.  Hermes is said to be an athlete who appears to have been popular in the gymnasia and garden. This copy is brought to King Louis XIV in 1965 originally in the Villa Peretti di Montalto, the property built by Pope Sixtus V but the statue was said to be the property the pope's nephew,  Alessandro Peretti Cardinal di Montalto.  Engraved on the statue, 1594.

Crouching Aphrodite, known as the 'Venus of Vienne'

Crouching Aphrodite, known as the 'Venus of Vienne' is a copy of the sculpture in the Hellenistic period attributed to the sculptor, Doidalsas of Bithynia.  It represents Aphrodite, a young woman crouching on her right heel, her left foot resting on the ground.  Her missing arms were sculpted as covering herself.  This sculpture was excavated in 1828 on the right bank of the Rhone, part of the ancient city of Vienne. It was purchased by the French state in 1878 for the Louvre.

 Room 344, Sully wing, Level 0

Aphrodite Pudica (modest Venus)

Another version of Aphrodite from the Hellenistic period found in the Capitoline Hill.  Hellenistic was the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and before the Great Roman Empire in 31BC.  The statue in the Louvre is  one of the many versions of the torso found believed to be that of Aphrodite in the modest posture.  It was named Pudica or the modest Venus because of its posture,  right hand covering her left breast and the other hand was covering her genitalia evident by some parts of the hands that were not detached from the statue.  The child standing over the dolphin is the son of Aphrodite, Eros.  Aphrodite and Eros are from the Greek Mythology  named by the Romans, Venus and Cupid as the goddess and god of love respectively.  The Romans made a copy of this version of Aphrodite in the 2nd or 3rd century.  Thereafter, various copies completing the parts of the body.  The Capitoline Aphrodite in the Louvre was previously in the Borghese collection.

Athena, known as 'Pallas of Velletri', Louvre, Paris, France

Another type of Athena's statue is a classical marble wearing helmet  These statues believed to be Roman copies in the first century of the lost Greek bronze manufactured mostly at Baiae, on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples  One of these copies was found in the ruins of a Roman villa in a vineyard near Velletri in 1797, currently displayed in the Louvre.

Displayed at Room 344, Sully wing, Level 0

Venus of Arles, Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Aphrodite, known as the 'Venus of Arles'.  This version of Venus was found in the Roman Theatre in Arles, a first century theatre during the Augustus empire.  The statue was made of marble from the Hynettus mountain.  It is believed to be a Roman copy of the Greek artwork, Aphrodite of Thespiae by Praxiteles.

Room 344, Sully wing, Level 0

Venus Genitrix,  The Aphrodite of Fréjus at the Louvre

A sculpture representing Venus of the Romans with Vibia Sabina pose, thus called Venus Genitrix.  Sabina was the wife of the Emperor Hadrian (117–138 AD).  The Parian marble sculpture is a Roman copy of the lost bronze sculpture of Aphrodite created by the the Athenian sculptor Callimachus in 420 - 410 BC.  It was discovered at Fréjus (Forum Julii) in 1650.  It is told the statue was honoured as a cult by the Julio-Claudian dynasty of Rome, claimed her as their ancestor.  This Venus Genitrix was seen in palace of the Tuileries in 1678.  Thereafter, moved to the park of Versailles in 1685.  It was seized during the French Revolution and has permanently resided in the Louvre since 1803.

Room 344, Sully wing, Level 0

Athena Parthenos

The statue called Athena Parthenos at Room 344 is a copy of the statue of Athena inside the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.  Athens was the most famous cult image in Athens.  She was considered the Greek goddess of warfare, wisdom and handicrafts.

Ares, known as the 'Ares Borghese'

The marble statue, Ares Borghese, was one of the 344 art works purchased from the Borghese collections.  It has not been concluded if this is a replica from an original Greek antiquity or an original creation by the Romans.  The statue was identified as the Greek Ares because of the Helmet worn and the ring on its ankle given by his lover,  Aphrodite.

Displayed at Louvre Museum Room 344, Sully wing, Level 0

Venus Pudique, Carrara marble (around 160 AD)

The statue named Venus Pudique represents various type of Venus.  That of Venus Genitrix revealing a breast, that of Venus Velentini for the position of the left foot.  Sometime in the 16th century, before the statue was purchase from the Borghese collection in Italy by the Napoleon government in 1807, the statue was restored to Venus in the bath by adding a water vessel.  It was interpreted as well as a celestial or modest Venus and sort of Venus Vulgar.

Venus Vulgaire, Louvre, Paris, France

The statue was known as Aphrodite  Genitrix type until the end of the 5th century due to its sensual appearance, uncovered breast.  In the 16th century, the shell under her foot mistakenly thought as a uterus. From then onwards, the statue was called Venus Vulgaire,  The copy in the Louvre was one of the purchases from the Borghese Collection in 1807. 

This type of Venus/Aphrodite statue represents a young woman dressed in light cloth with her left breast exposed, left arm rests on her hip and was looking onto the left side as well.  On her right is  her son, Eros for Greeks, Cupids for the Romans.  Statue's right hand is holding Eros' wings  so he could not fly to trigger loves of the Gods and the Mortals.  The seashell represents her marine birth.

Marble statue of Zeus, Louvre, Paris, France

The statue of Zeus in the Louvre, Paris was made of marble from the 2nd century.   The statue was presented to King Louis XIV originally in the form of  Aesculapius  (the god of medicine).  son of Apollo, the god of healing.  The statue was later restored as Zeus in 1686 by Pierre Granier who added the right arm with the thunderbolt.  The statue was displayed in the 'Allée Royale', (Tapis Vert) in the Gardens of Versailles before it was moved to the Louvre Museum.

 Room 344, Sully wing, Level 0

Torso of the 'Diadumenos' type, Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Torso of the 'Diadumenos' type which are the basic pattern of Ancient Greek Culture.  These could be converted to any of the Greek Mythological characters.

 Room 344, Sully wing, Level 0

More of Greek and Roman Antiquities,  Louvre Museum, Paris, France

There you go... the Gallery of the Greek and Roman Antiquities at Room 344, Sully Wing in the Louvre Museum, Paris, France.  I have more to share as Louvre is really huge.  It takes so long though, I love blogging about this as I am learning and more appreciating the beauty of the ART..  I will continue with the Caryatides at the Room 348, Sully Wing.  More so, in construction as well, the painting of Mona Lisa with the artworks featured in the Beyonce music video and Michelangelo works.

The photos were taken during our visit in the Louvre on 18 May 2018.  The texts were the compilation of my researches gathered from the museum itself, wikipedia and some historical sites

We were in Barcelona the previous day, you may want to check our  WALKS in Barcelona on 16 and 17 May 2018

The following day, 19 May, we walked from the Louvre through Tuileries Garden, Place la Concorde crossing the Pont Alexander III  before we visited Musee D' Orsay.  check out our WALKS in Paris on 19 May 2019

check out visits to Museum:

Picasso

continued to a day tour to Cinque Terre