The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-11-20
SOLUTION OF A MYSTERY.
How Venus Lost Her Arms Explained
by French A~cademieian. ssot.

How Venus Lost Her Arms Explained
by French Academieian. 5000
What was the position Of the now
vanished arms Of the Venus de Milo?
"a question tina has been heatedIY
discussed by artists and antiquaries
since the discovery Of the famous
statue in 1820-is now set at rest for
ever through the publication this week
by Jean AiCard, the French academi-
clan and well known man of letters.
OF some remarkable manuscripts n hts
possession which have never before
been published.
According to the evidence in these,
documents, which is regarded as un-1
impeachable, the statue of the Venus
Victrix, which is now the chief treas
ure at the Louvre, was intact when it
was discovered nearly a century ago.
by a Greek peasant in an underground
grotto IN his field. Both arms were
In place. The right arm descended a
little below he hips, where it held mp
the draperies, while the left arm was
raised above the head and graspedt in{
the hand a small sphere, which was
probably an apple. This arm was de-.
tached from the body and fixed in
place by a tongue of iron.
The reason why h statue was arn-
less when 1t was shipped from tho
Island Of Milo is now also made clear
The documents published by NJ. Aicafd
prove that French naval officers, who
were the first European to see The
Venus, and who were authorized by
their government to buy it at n coSs,D
obtained the prize only at h cost OF
a sharp scrimmage with the crew of a.
Turkish brig, the commander of
which had been instructed by a Creek,
prince at Constantinople to bring the
statue to him. FeE
In the struggle, in which fifty sailors
took part on each side, and in
which shots and saber cuts were freely
exchanged, the goddess, who had been
placed on a stoutly built cart, was
thrown to the ground and her arms
were broken into pieces. -
This seizure of the Venus de Milo by
force and conflict between the French
and Turks was hushed up for dlplO-l
matte reasons n never reached the
ears of the public. o..
The first of the documents which NJ.
Aicard publishes and whichAhe intends
soon to deposit in the library of the
institute is a memoir written by Du~I
mont Durville, afterward noted as g..
polar explorer, who obtained the statue
for h French government.
He states positively that the Venus
Victrix, when he first saw her, had her
arms in the position described, adding
that they were afterwards mutilated!
and detached from the body.
Next is a manuscript noticed by
Lieutenant Matterer, who accompanied
Durville on the expedition to. Milo and
many years afterward, enraged at the
endless dispute on the subject of the
original attitude of the Venus, decided
to leave a record in writing, which,
should settle the matter finally. In,
the notice he states: ~,
when ] saw the statue in the hut
OF Yorgo Bottoms, on whose field, it
was found, the left arm was attached
to the bust and held an apple over the
head"
| To this decisive evidence M. Aicard
adds the statements OF Jules Ferry
| who, when ambassador to Greece, Wis
tied Milo with the object of gathering
any traditions as to the discovery or
seizure OF the statue. Mr.. Ferry found
that the popular account of these Incl
dents was clear on the point that the
mutilation of Venus was caused by the
conflict around 1t OF French and Turk
ish sailors. He was also able to find
two sons of Bottoms, the original DIS
%coverer, who ~excavated in the grotto
with their father.
These stated positively that when IL
was found the statue stood on a ped
estaI with the left arm raised and :
holding an apple in the hand. The
publication Of these documents, tosS
gether with all the evidence bearing
on the question, has been received with
the deepest interest in artistic circles
in Paris when people find thoughts In
time-honored problems a thing of the
! past. 100