Vénus de Milo

Overview

The Vénus de Milo is the Greek marble statue of Aphrodite found on the island of Milos (Melos) in 1820 and acquired for the Louvre, where it has stood since 1821 (inv. Ma 399). It dates from the Hellenistic period, usually put in the second century BC (catalogues range from c. 150 to c. 100 BC), and is made of Parian marble in two main blocks; both arms are lost. By Marie's time it was, with the Apollo Belvedere, the best-known statue in the world. (Sources: Wikipedia, « Venus de Milo »; Wikimedia Commons description of the Louvre photograph.)

Marie and the Venus

Marie uses the statue as her measure of the female body. On 21 September 1873 a rival's white embroidered dress has « dans le dos une fosse comme chez la Vénus de Milo » (009.0286); on 6 May 1875 she notes a woman's back, with the pronounced hollow along the spine « si prononcé chez la Vénus de Milo » (032.0315). On 15 September 1875 in Florence, before the Venus de' Medici of the Uffizi (a different statue), she is disappointed -- « La Vénus de Milo est beaucoup plus Vénus » (043.0191). On 11 December 1875 she is indignant that a journalist compared an American girl to the statue: « Pauvre Vénus de Milo ! absurde journaliste ! » (050.0644). On 2 February 1883 she plans a Salon picture of her cousin Dina, « cette Vénus de Milo, de Rubens ou plutôt de Rembrandt » (098.0269); and on 16 March 1884 a model has « de la Vénus de Milo en bien plus beau » (103.0550).

Related

Apollo Belvedere; Dina. The existing stub Venus (people/mentioned) is the goddess in general.