The Washington herald., 1912-11-03
VENUS or T1LO
PROBLEM ISSOLVED
Goddess Held Apple IN One Hand,
the Other Held Up
Drapery.

edly discussed by artists ana antiquane'
since the discovery of the famous statu.
In lSeO-is now set at rest forever throuei
the publication this week by Jean Aicard
the academician and weli-known maj
of letters, of some remarkable manu-
scripts in his possession. which nevs
never before been published
According to the evidence in these doc
uments, which is regarded as uniM'
peschable. the statue OF the Venus VIC.
trix, which is now the chief treasure a
the Louvre, was intact when IT wal
discovered nearly a century ago by q
Greek peasant in an underground grottc
in his field.
Both arms were In place. The right
arm descended a little below the hips
where 1t held up the draperies. wnhe
the left arm was raised above the neao
and grasped in/the hand small sphere
which was probably an apple. This arm
Was detachable from the body of the
statue and fixed in place by a tongue
of iron. ----
The reason why the statue was arm
less when it was shipped from the Island
of Meios Ia now also made clear. Tne
documents published by N. Aicard prove
that French naval officers, who were
the first Europeans to, see the Venus,
and who were authorized by their gov
ernment to buy 1t at anys cost, obtained
the prize only at the cost Of a sharp
scrimmage with the cray Of a Turkish
brig. the commander of which had been
instructed by a Greek prince at Con-
stantinople to bring the statue to him.
In the struggle, in which nifty sailors
took part on each side. and In which
shots and saber cuts were freely ex-
changed, the goddess, who had been
placed Oh a stoutly built cart, was
thrown to the ground and her arms
wer. broken in pieces.
This seizure Of the Venus de Milo by
force and conflict between the French
and Turks was hushed up for diplomatic
reasons and never reached the ears OF
the public.
The first of the documents which NJ
A;card publishes, and which he intends
soon to deposit in the Library OF the
Institute. is memoir written py Du-
mont d'Crville, afterward noted as
polar explorer. who obtained the statue
for the French government.
He states positively that the Venus
yictrix, when he first saw her. had her
arms in the position described addins
that they were .afterward mutilated and
detached from the body.
Next is a manuscript notice by Lieut.
Matterer who accompanied dbrvliie on
the expedition to Melos, and many years
afterward. enraged at the endless dis
pute on the subject of the original at
u
record in writing which should settle
the matter finally. In the notice he
states:
when l saw the statue in the hut of
Jorgos Bottoms, on whose field II was
found the left arm was attached to the
bust and held an apple over the head.
To this decisive evidence NJ. Aicard
adds the statements of Jules Ferry, who.
when Ambassador to Greece. visited Me-
los with the object of gathering any ira
ditions as to the discovery or seizure OF
the statue NJ. Ferry found that the
popular account of these incidents was
clear on the point that the mutilation
of the Venus was caused by the conflict
around it of French and Turkish sailors.
He was also able to find two sons of
Bottoms. the original discoverer, who
excavated in the grotto with their
father.
These stated positively that when it
was found the statue stood on a ped
estal with the left arm raised and hold
ing an apple in the hand. The publica-
ton of these documents. together with
all the evidence bearing on the ques-
ton, has been received with the deepest
interest in artistic circles in Paris, where
people had thought the time-honored
problem a thing of the past
II the documents described in the fore
tie forever the question of the arms OF
the most valuable statue in the world.
One of the documents, the d'Urville
manuscript. may be accounted for on
the supposition that it is the long miss
ing letter which was sent to the French
Embassy at Constantinople and known
to have reached its destination. telling
a bout the discovery of the statue and
inquiring whether the government de-
sired ito purchase it.
All contemporary evidence hitherto
made known had apparently shown that
the statue. when discovered. was with
out complete arms. The restoration OF
these limbs has for nearly century
greatly interested artists and amtom-
lists. Many and fantastic have been the
substitutes offered. 1t has been gen.
orally affirmed by the best authorities
that the right hand held up the draperies
at the hip. The same authorities have
agreed that the left arm must have sup
ported some elevated burden on account
of the muscles of the neck and the poise
of the shoulders betraying a strain on
the left side. But what was this burden
The answer has ranged all the way
from a globe or apple to a bambino or
infant Cupid. The last conjecture. in
eeniously demonstrated by the American
sculptor. Frank Paloma. receives its au-
thority on the ground that in the grotto
where the statue was found were frag-
ments of smaller sculptured figures. and
that the pose of the statue indicates a
heavier burden than an apple. This has
been acknowledged. but answer has been
made that the pose is equally faithful
TO the act Of throwing a smaller object.
In the month of February, 1920. a peas
ant named Jorgos Bottoms and his son
Antonio. while working in a field upon
the mountainside near the village Of
Castro. in the Island of Melos, found a
rock cavity caused by a landslide. En-
tering il. they came upon a small shrine
decorated in colors and inclosing certain
sculptures. Jorgos at once communicated
the news to the village priest. named
Oiconomos, a monk of the Order Of St.
Basil, who soon visited the spot.
Exactly what was seen there had re-
manned a mystery until revealed by NJ.
Aicard's documents. It had been known,
however. that the news of the discovery
very shortly reached the French consul
at Melos. NJ. Louis Brest. This gentle
man also visited the grotto. but the
record he left of what ne saw was con-
fined to generalities-a statue about six
feet high. two smaller statues, a lot Of
broken marble arms and legs, and sew
erai inscriptions.
find a statue of ancient Hellas meant a
fortune. and NJ. Brest proposed to Jorgos
to buy the lot for 5000. and Immediately
wrote to his superior at Constantinople,
describing the antiquities and asking for
authority, and the means to purchase
such of them as might be deemed de-
sirable.
No reply being received by April, the
peasants offered the statue alone to an