The herald., 1894-03-12
ARMS OF THE VENUS.
AN ENGLISH scULPToR's SOLUTION
OF THE MYSTERY.

John Bell Thinks That She Stood In the
Vast Amphitheater at STelos Typifying
Great Goddess Comforting Honors-A
Problem In Art.
Any number of attempts have been
made TO restore to her original perfec-
ton the Venus of Melos, who has stood
in armless beauty for the admiration of
the thousands of art lovers who visit the
Louvre, but the original design is as
problematical still as the meaning of
the monster that guards the pyramids,
and 30 accustomed have people become
to the Venus as it emerged from the
ruins of the Melos amphitheater that no
sculptor has yet been able to effect
restoration which satisfies the sense
thus cultivated. John Bell. an Eng
lish sculptor, has made the latest resto-
ration.
AS no mention appears in ancient rec
oTis 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 Victrix,
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 Nemesis, in connection
! possibly with the Athenian massacre of
the islanders, about the time of the Pei
oponnesian war. By others she has
been adopted as a Nike or Victory.
Others have assigned to her the names
of Sappho, Phryne or mourning Elec-
ira, while yet another version has been
that she was 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 Agean archipelago, and it has been
suggested that she had 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 dignified of the floating
speculations is that she is coquettishly
holding and looking in a mirror. The
argument in favor of this is that
bronze statuette has been discovered in
Pompeii which much resembles it, and
it is holding and gazing in mirror.
To very many arch@ologists this last
seems the most probable solution of its
mystery. Certainly the pose is appro-
pirate; certainly the demitoileted con-
dition is in accordance with the theory
too. But Mr.. Bell is incapable of enter
tanning this notion Of its motive, =" and
having addressed his thoughts to some
mission that seemed to him more wor-
thy he has decided that 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 catacombs,
famous for its cyclopean ramparts and
for its huge amphitheater. 1t was in
the ruins of this last, in a cave grotto,
that the figure which from the Paris
Louvre charms the world was found.
Mr.. Bell thinks its original situation
was in the amphi hitheater; that it posed
as the genius loci of the structure, and
that at some time Of commotion it was
removed to the grotto for protection
and concealment.
"Methinks l see her there" he says,
ain the vast amphitheater thronged
with adorers of the great goddess, the
central object at some high festival.
Under this aspect what species Of
motive is open to US foT the restoration
of this noble work consonant with its
grand form and majestic presence? She
stands with the utmost frmness and
dignity, and 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 amphi-
theater in which assume her to have
stood was no doubt the accepted site
for the holding of high public festivals
and for the bestowal OF the insular
honOrs for public services and for liter
atuTe, philosophy, poetry, music and
the drama, and for victories in athletic
games, which formed so integral part
in the culture of the Creek race. From
the above considerations has sprung my
conception of what it is possible she
may have represented and the mode in
which the lost arms ard hands may
have been held and employed.
In pursuance of this conception Mr..
Bell has invested his attempt at restora-
ton with 1.-The character Of a great god
dess comforting honors. - One hand be-
slows wreath of glory; Ghe other holds
one in reserve and there you have
Venus Denatrix. Magazine of Art.