Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-02-05
4. 4 j. j j. !. !. !. i. j. j. i.
y VENUS DE MILO. J.
!. j. j. 1. !. !. !. j. :. j. j. !.

What was the position of the now
vanished arms Of the Venus de Milo?
"a question that has been heatedly
discussed by artists and antiquaries
since the discovery Of the famous
statue in 1S20--is now set at rest
forever through the publica ton, by
Jean Aicard, the French academician
and we'll known man of letters, of
| some remarkable manuscripts in his
possession, which have never before
been published.
According to the evidence in these
documents, which Is regarded as un-
| improbable, the statue of the Venus
Victrix Louvre, was intact when it
was discovered nearly century ago
by a Greek peasant in an under
ground grotto in his field. Both
| arms were in place. The right arm
descended a little below the hips,
where it held up the draperies, while
the left arm was raised above the
head and grasped in the hand a small
sphere, which was probably an apple.
| This arm was detached from the
| body Of the statue and fixed in place
by tongue of iron.
| The reason why the statue was
armless when it was shipped from
the Island Of Milo is now made clear
The documents published by M. All
card prove that French naval officers
who were the first Europeans to see
the Venus, and who were authorized
by their government to buy it at any
cost, obtained the prize only at the
cost Of a sharp scrimmage with the
crew of Turkish brig, the COM
mander of which had been instructed
by a Greek prince at Constantinople
to bring the statue to him.
In the struggle in which fifty sal
lors took part on each side, and in
which shots and sabre 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 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 reach
ed the ears Of the public.
The first Of the documents which
M. Aicard publishes, and which he
intends soon to deposit in the library
of the institute, is memoir written
by Dumont Durville, afterward noted
as Polar explorer, who obtained the
statue for the 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 manuscript noticed by
Lieutenant Matterer, who accompa-
MED Durville on the expedition to
Milo, and many years afterward, en-
ragged 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 mat
ter finally. In the notice he states
"When I saw the statue in the
hut of Yorgos Bottoms, on
whose field it was found, the
| left arm was attached to the
| buct and held an apple over :
the head"
To this decisive evidence, M. All
card adds the statements of Juels
| Ferry, who, when ambassador to
Greece, visited Milo with the object
Of gathering any traditions as to the
discovery or seizure of the statue.
Mr.. Ferry found that the popular ac-
count 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 sal
lors. He was also able to find two
sons of Bottoms, the original discov-
erer, who excavated in the grotto
with their father.
These stated positively that when
1t was found the statue stood on a
pedestal with the left arm raised and
holding an apple in the hand. The
publication Of these documents, to-
gether with all the evidence bearing
| IN \