The record-union., 1897-01-31

seaShore, that this operation was eff
fected by means OF ropes, and that they
were obliged to work secretly and at
night, as the Turks had forbidden the
sale of objects of art to strangers. l re-
main, gentlemen, etc,
MARQUIS DE TROGOFF-LAVAUX +"
The following is the text of the mar
ginal notes written day by day by the
young midshipman, De Trogoff:
During our anchorage at Milo (from
the 18th to 11th of March, 1920, according
TO the log book a young Greek peasant
working in his field one day found that
his spade met with a very unusual
resistance. Pulling it out he discovered
what looked like a vault Piqed by curl
osity, and also in hopes of making some
precious discovery, he dug carefully
around the object and found a species
of niche. At last, after infinite trouble,
he happened accidentally upon the open
ing. Entering hurredly he perceived to
his great astonishment a magnificent
statue, having two white ants on either
side
She was in a condition of good pres
ervation. In one of her hands she held
an apple, a fact which led him to sup
pose that she was the goddess of the is
land-as the word 'melos' in Greek sig
nifies apple-but she could just as easily
have been taken for Venus. She is of
marvellous beauty, the draperies being
specially admirable"
The author of these lines, a nephew
of the Admiral of the same name, was
himself a brilliant naval officer a grad
uate of the naval school and then of
Augouleme, he gained great honors for
his bravery at Navarin and Salamine.
After the revolution of 1880 he sent in
his resignation from active service.
His testimony in the question of the
Verus de Milo is absolutely disinter-
ested. He never for a moment thought
Of attaching any Importance to his role
in the affair He simply wrote these
daily notes for his own pleasure and
perhaps because it was his duty to cor
rect his daily observations, and they
are simply what he heard and what he
saw on the subject.
NJ. De Trogoff's story, which is abso-
lutely trustworthy. settles and fixes two
first, that it was in March, 1920 from
the 4th to the 11th and not on the Sth
of April, as has been generally believed,
that the statue was found; second,
that both arms We're intact and the
Venus held an apple in one of her
hands.
1t is very improbable, however, that
the archaeologists will confess them
selves vanquished For nearly twenty
years they have been promulgating sys-
TENS without giving a thought to the
witnesses who might overthrow them.
The different attempts made toward
the restoration of this Venus de Milo
offers some very amusing incidents.
Fortunately, from the very beginning
there was so much disagreement
among the archaeologiSts that Louis
XIII, finding himself in an embarrass-
ing position when the Marquis de Ri
Were brought the marble to Paris, or
dered the statue sent to the Louvre for
public exhibition as it was found.
Being deferred by the royal decision
from trifing with the original marble,
the archaeologists called for competitive
designs, showing how Venus probably
was followed by a myriad of fantastic
and ingenious interpretations. The fol-
lowing are a few out of a vast number:
Messrs. MMlingen, John, Welker and
Puller represent Venus as holding Mars
shield.
Mr.. Braun and Wettig put the shield
ON Venus.
According to Mr. Rydberg, she holds
a shield upon which is engraven an in
scription commemorating the victory
of the Greeks over the Persians.
Mr. Stillman, of the Century Maga-
zine" who has studied the subject very
carefully, poses a striking figure, that
of Victory, who has just finished trac-
ing an inscription on a tablet.
Mr.. Bell. an English sculptor, gives
US a Venus holding a crown of laurel
in each hand.
In 1913 an anonymous sculptor eXhi-
bited at Vienna a Venus making her
toilet.
According to Mr.. Fourtwaengler
Venus is leaning on a column, the left
hand holding an apple
Felix RavaisSon, who seems to look
upon himself as an authority on the
SLDJSCL, IAdfo dtCltAcu llidI lllc IhiIO sud
tue is a reproduction, executed in the
time of Alexander of a model created
in Athens in the time of Pericles, the
reproduction and the original showing
Venus Urania welcoming into Elysian
bliss the heroic founder of Athens.
TheSeuS.
The fact that the statue is sculptured
out Of two pieces of marble, has drawn
forth the conclusion from Mr.. Saloman
that it is without doubt the work of
Cephisodate and Timarque, two sons of
PraxiteleS.
Mr.. Tarral, an Englishman living in
Paris, and NJ. Gieler Won Ravensburg
have accepted Dumont d'Urvilles de-
scription of the goddess when first
found at Milo, and which has been so
completely corroborated by the young
midshipman's log book. The work of
restoration proposed by. Mr.. Tarral IS
the most characteristic of all the models
SO far offered and seems to come nearer
the truth of the original Such she
seems to have been when she left the
hands of her creator, and such she GER
tainly was when the peasant of Milo
found her in his field and showed her
to the officers of the French squadron.
New York Herald
CURIOUS FACTS.