The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-10-12

lists original conception when ne placed
dolphin along side of Venus 70 indi
cate that she vas born OF the sea. Tn.
amoretti form certainly a modification
| OF the original type.
"As we continue our examination G
| still more interesting fact attracts on,
| attention, tne motif of the s;aue. In tbs
Medici statue, on the upper portion o.
| the ieft arm are lines % indentation
| where an armiet seems 10 have been
| originally worn. / do not know whether
any one has observed whether an sctua
| armlet, perhaps OF bronze. was ever fas-
tened TO this spot or net. Other marble
| statues have marble arralets actually In
| place, while the sculptor OF the Medic
statue has represented the place for tn:
| armiet but no armIet. The new statue
| explains this in a most interesting way
Venus hav removed her armiet and It is
dangling it on her righthand. This ex-
PLANTATION is certainly possible one
for the entire right arm o. the Medici
statue and the left arm, from the elbow
down. are reStorations.
When I had reached this point in my
study Of the new statue I felt like pro-
claiming it 10 the world as an import
ant discovery, but an opportunity was
then offered me to see the statue, when
my senses OF security was somewhat
shaken. The superficial coloring which
is reflected the photograph. and which
! had interpreted as due TO weathering,
1 discovered TO be the result Of some
other cause. The statue presents a
brownish appearance. almost greasy IN
some places. and in others SO ingrained
into the marble as TO make one imagine
that a new kind of brown marble had
come TO light. II could hardly be tina
Greek sculptor would nave used a
brown marole for statue of Venus;
some other explanaio is demanded.
Can il be that this is an unsuccessful
effort on the part OF modern forger
10 initiate ancient weathering? Or shall
We believe the story of the antiquity
dealer that the statue, when found, had
been for long time buried in stable
yard? The coloring 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
marbles, bu. tranlucent. almost like ala
baster. The statue is said to have been
found in Sicily. Where did the marble
come from? The statue, like the Venus
de Medici, is under life size, but unlike
it in being carved from a single block.
How far this is suspicious circum-
stance 1 am not prepared 10 say. Very
many ancient statues, including fh>
Medici Venus, were composed of several
pieces of marble. The arms were usu-
ally separately made and attached. Here
arms, legs and dolphins were carved
from the same block as the body OF the
statue. II / am not mistaken. only a
fragment OF the dolphin's tail was az
fixed; perhaps also the little finger OF
the left hand.
"An examination Of the technique OF
the new statue should be made by an
expert The treatment Of the hair is
quite different from that OF the Medici
Venus. This, however. is not an indi-
cation Of it's being modern, for 1t TOO
closely resembles the hair OF the Venus
OF the Capitol and that OF the Venus
Callipygos of the Naples Museum. But
the treatment of the base on which the
statue rests is more suspicious. This
may be described as rough fooled, but
the tonling is so regularly done as to
suggest an imitation of methods no Ion
ger in vogue. Since seeing the statue
have observed in the British Museum
and in the Louvre the bases Of num-
Der OF statues OF the period TO which
the Venus de Medici is usually assigned.
These are sometime dressed in smooth
finish and sometimes fooled roughly. but
less regularly than in the case OF the
present statue.
When in the British Museum I con-
suited with Mr.. Murray and Mr.. Smith
curators OF the ancient sculpture, with
regard to the motif of our statue. 1 had
no photograph to show then, but the
motif struck them as modern. But TO
me II seemed not necessarily modern.
Other Venuses with the dolphin exist,
in which the goddess holds something
in her hand Clarac CMusee de Sculp-
ture. Pl. 615) publishes three such stat
ues from the GIustiniani collection. in
which Venus holds flower, seashell.
or q vase.
when I examined the armlet I mus.
confess that the suggestions OF Byzan-
tins rather than Greek design were
aroused by the rectangles containing
globules and nail heads. II seems as II
the sculptor had drawn his inspiration
from the bronze. doors OF medieval
cathedral OF from the ornamentation Of
a medieval book cover. But here again
I am not 50 sure that the design in
question may not date as early back as
the Alexandrlan epoch. The Greek and
Roman Jewelry OF the British Museum
and the Louvre OF Cnidus at Munich
seem 70 show that the bracelet OF our
Venus is not an impossibility in anrIa-
uity."