Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-03-07
ARMS OF THE VENUS.
AN ENGLISH SCULPTOR'S Solution
OF THE MYSTERY.

John Bell Thi"ks That She stood In tho
Vast Amphithcater at Melos Tyrifsing
u Great Goddess Comforting Honors-A
Problem In Art.
Any number OF attempts have ECcu
made to restore to hcI original pcrfyC-
ton the Venus Of Melos, WHO has stood
in alnless beauty for the admiration OF
the thousands of art lovers who visit the
Louvre, but the original &c sign is us
predetermined still as the meaning Of
the monster that guards the pyramids
and SO accustomed have people become
to the Venus as it emerged from thr
ruins of the Melos amphitheater that no
sculptor has yet Been able to effect a
restoration which satisfies the sense
thus cultivated. John Bell, an Eng
lish sculptor, has made tho latest rcstu-
ration.
AS no mention app ears in ancient rec
ords of art, there is no knowing what
parsonage or deity the SO called Venus
may have been intended to represent.
She has been entitled Venus Nict1ix.
and one of her lost hands is supposed to
have held the apple, the award of Paris,
while another speculation has been that
she formed part of a group with Mars.
According to another idea. she repre-
sented sea nymph, the special protect
ing Nereid of the isle. BY some she has
been said to be Il Nemesis. in connection
possibly with the Athenian massacre of
the islanders. about the time of the Pei
oponnesian war. By others she ha3
been adopted as a Nike or Victory.
Others have assigned to her the names
Of Sappho, Phryne or a mourning Flee
ira, while yet another version has been
that she was a Tyre playing muse. The
most general idea, however, has been
that she was an Aphrodite or Venus.
which is highly probable from the al
most universal worship of that goddess
throughout the coasts and islands of
the IEgean archipelago, and it has been
suggested that she had a harp in her left
hand while she played on it with her
right, which the position of the torso
and the remains of the arms admit of.
But the most favored and at the same
time the least dignied of the floating
speCulations is that she is coquettishly
holding and looking in a mirror. The
argument in favor of this is that Il
bronze statuette has been discovered in
Pompeii which much resembles it, and
it is holding and gazing in Il mirror.
To very many archHologists this last
seems the most probable solution of its
mystery. Certainly the pose is apprO-
pirate; certainly the dcmitoilet"u con-
dition is in accordance with the theory
too. But Mr.. Bell is incapable of enter
taininO tbis notion of IFS IN and
having addressed his thoughts to some
mission that seemed to him moro wur-
thy he has decided that Il great goddess
comforting honors is more in keeping
with the dignity of the sculpture.
! Though small, the island of Melos
must at one time have been very popu-
lous. 1t was famous for its catacumhs,
famous for its CyclOpcan lamparts and
for its huge amphitheater 1t was in
the ruins of this last, in a cave Srotto,
that the figure which from the Paris
Louvre charms the world WAS found.
Mr.. Bell thinks its original situation
was in the amphi thcater; that it posed
as the genius loci of the structure. and
that at some time of COmmutiun it WAS
removed to the grotto for protection
and COncealment.
"Methinks | see her there, he says,
Gin the vast amphitheater tlrung,d
with adorers of the great goddess, the
central object at some high festival.
Under this aspect what species of
motive is open to us for the restoration
of this noble work consonant with its
grand form and majestic presence: She
stands with the utmost hrmness and
dignity, and Il benign smile is on her
face as she slightly bends forward. The
principal fractures Indicate that her
left arm and hand was raised and her
right advanced before her. The amThi
theater III which assume her to have
stood was no doubt the accepted site
for tho holding of high public festivals
and for the bestOWal OF the msuldr
honors for public services and for liter
allure, philosophy, poetry, music and
the drama and for victories in athletic
games, which formed so integral part
in the culture of the Greek race. From
the above considerations has sprung my
conception of what it is possible she
may have represented and the mode III
which the lost arms and hands may
have been held and employed.
In pursuance of this conception Mr..
Bell has invested his attempt at rcstura-
ton with 1.-The character of IL great goI-
dess comforting honors.' One hand he
slows wreath of glory; the other holds
one in reserve and there you have q
Venus Denatrix. Magazine of Art