The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-26
A SISTER TO THE VENUS
MYSTERIOUS WORK OF SCULPTURE
GOOD AS THE FAMOUS STATUE.
ArchaeolOgists Discussing an Art
work That May Be Forgery or an
Ancient Greek Masterpiece.
New York Journal.

| mystery attached to it, is now in TINS CITY,
1t is a statue of Venus, which, by the high
est of authority, is declared to be one or the
| finest works of sculpture In existence. II
| is worthy to take rank with the greatest
| masterpieces of Greek art. Among auInen-
| tic ancient works the Venus de Medici Is the
| one which most nearly resembles the newly
| discovered statue in grace and beauty. but
| experts, including Prof Allan Marquand, OF
Princeton, declare the new Venus to be dis
tinctly superior to the world famous one.
| There is strong evidence to show that the
newly-discovered work is of classical an
tiquity. But it may not be, and therein lies
the mystery. If it is a modern work, who
is the man capable of producing world
masterpiece and content to send it forth
as an ingenious forgery? He must be one
of the most curious human beings In exis-
tence There is another plausible theory. 1t
is that the statue is the work of some sculp-
tor of the middle ages cleverly striving to
initiate a classical work. In that case we
have still fine mystery-a great medl-
aeval sculptor whose name IS lost 10 US. : IN "a
noble ideal of woman'S beauty, WcndecIuly
expressed in Parian marble
The statue is the property or AdolpnuS
Frederick Linton, of Omaha, Neb., who
purchased it In England Its history, as IaF
as known, is told in the following affidavit
Statement with reference to the Venus
belonging to Mrs. p. r. Z. L. Linton; 1,
fore purchasing the statue Of Venus on pc
half of my wife, P r. E. Elwina Linton,
in the month of October, 1889, | was ad-
vised by the eminent expert and sculptor,
Signor Folcardi, that it was a true, ancient
Greek Parian marble statue, and IN MS
opinion the most perfect, wonderfui ana
beautiful statue in the world. lie DeneVeu
it to be the work of Praxiteles, the ancient
Greek sculptor.
to have it exhibited in other
large American cities. and said he
t TGgd go T tic to G aeiVer wiling lsSy
to. meet any of the experts or sculptors of
the world to debate the question with them
with reference to his opinion about me
beauties from a sculptors point of view
that the statue possessed above all other
Greek works of art. He further said that
was worth 100000, if properly protected by
copyright. The statue should be photo
graphed in four positions, and in his opin-
ion will have a larger sale than the Venus
of Florence, because this one is much more
perfect and beautiful. The statue should
also be reproduced in different materials
and sold as models to artists and students
and to all the great museums in the world.
ANCIENT PARIAN MARBLE.
"Signor Folcardi further said he had
made a special study of the ancient Greek
marble called Parian marble, and that this
marble was unknown and unworked by the
Roman sculptors With reference to this
marble he touched the statue with coin
and explained that the beautiful metallic
sound produced was the very best test of
true Parian marble
'It is believed that the statue was re-
moved from Greece to Sicily, and belonged
to one of the ancient Italian families, set
tied in Sicily the reason of it's beautiful
splendid preservation was on account or
howl 1acrh 11oIN fnl nd
in and inclosed in a court yard. l was also
informed that foreign government tried to
procure 1t before 1t was imported into Eng
land.
'.ADOLPHUs FREDERICK LINTON.
Declared at 101 Church Road Hove in
the County of Sussex, this 18th day of Jan
FREDERICK j. PEARSON,
"A Commissioner of Oaths.''
ScribnerS Magazine asked Prof. Allan
Marquand, of Princeton, noted archae-
olOgist, and also an art connoisseur, to give
it very carefully. and in reply, said: IAN
examination of the very excellent photo
graphs taken by lockwood enables us to
see at once that the statue belongs to the
class of which the Venus de- Medici is the
typical example. The very fact that at the
first glance the Venus de- Medici is so dis
tinctly suggested arouses our interest, and
perhaps also our suspicious. f more atten-
tive study of the photographs increases this
interest The type of face is less coquettiSh,
nobler in character, nearer the best stand
ards of Greek art than the face of her cele-
DRAFTED sister. Again, the dolphin at her
side lacks the amoretti which in the Medici
statue Chamber on the dolphin's back This
seems to us second indication that our
statue represents an earlier type, less pic
turesque, less Alexandrian in character, and
nearer the artists original conception when
he placed a dolphin alongside of Venus to
indicate that she was born of the sea. The
amoretti form certainly modification of
the original type.
LAS we continue our examination still
more interesting fact attracts our attention
the motif of the statue. In the Medici
statue on the upper portion of the left arm,
are lines of indentation, where an armlet
seems to have been originally worn. do
not know whether any one has observed
whether an actual armlet, perhaps of
bronze, was ever fastened to this spot or
not. Other marble statues have marble
armlets actually in place, while the sculptor
o Of tee Me tbe has the
new statue explains this in most interest
ing way. Venus has removed her armlet
and is dangling it on her right hand. This
explanation is certainly a possible one for
the entire right arm of the Medici statue
and the left arm, from the elbow down, are
MAY BE A FORGERY.
when I had reached this point in my
study of the new statue / felt like pro-
claiming it to the world as an important
discovery, but an opportunity was then af-
forded me to see the statue. when my sense
of security was somewhat shaken The SUI
perficial coloring, which is reflected in the
photograph ana which / had interpreted
as due to weatherng, discovered to be the
result of some other cause. The statue
presents a brownish appearance almost
greasy in some places. and in others so in
grained into the marble as to make one
imagine that a new kind of brown marble
had come to light. 1t could hardly be that
a Greek sculptor would have used a brown
marble for d statue of Venus some other
explanation is demanded Can it be thar
this is an unsuccessful effort on the part
of a modern forger to initiate ancient
weathering? Or shall we believe the story
of the antiquity dealer that the statue.
when found, had been for a long time
buried in the stable yard? The coIoring
certainly arouses suspicion.
There are also other circumstances made
apparent by an observation of the statue
itself. The marble of which it is made is
not Opaque, as is the case with Greek mar
bles, but translucent almost like alabaster
The statue is said to have been found in
Sicily. Where did the marble come from2
The statue, like the Venus de Medici is
under life size. but unlike it in being carved
from single block. How far this is st1s-
picious circumstance am not prepared to
say. Very many ancient statues including
the Medici Venus, were composed Of several
pieces of marble The arms were USUALLY
legs and dolphins We're carved from the
same block as the body of the statue. If
am not mistaken only a fragment of the
dophin's tail was affixed: perhaps also the
little finger of the left hand