Evening star., 1923-08-12
Arms of an American Girl Model
May Help Restore Venus of Milo
GeS Believed Mutzd By Because of GveIt
HaveP
Dscoye

! rival at Paris-showing her left arm
as broken only at the elbow.
| The report of NJ. Lange. chief re-
storer Of the Louvre in 1920, speaks
! of certain marks of scraping on tho
left arm fragments, running straight
up on the shoulder, and found also
on the back Of the hand fragment
which line Of scraping straight from
hand to shoulder could have been
made only when the arm was entire"
! Years passed. The secret. whatever
4, its nature, was kept The only dis
cussions of the critics (these never
ceasing) were the original position
| of the arms" Yet whispers were cur
rent. In 1854 Charles Lenormant. IA
nous classical archaeologist, publish
ed in lie Correspondent an article on
the Venus Of Milo containing these
strange lines:
| II have always believed that from
! the beginning. to better accredit 4
/ production which is it's own bcs.
proofs, they designediy caused 10 dis
appear accessories which might d,
range the idea that they had just OIL
tanned a chef d'oeuvre of the grand
epoch OF Greek art. Thus beside
the arms, they suppressed the debris
! of an inscription-the signature or
| the sculptor"
! They" may mean the French an
| bassador and VI. Marceilus, and il
may equally mean the authorities o.
the Louvre Museum in 1870.
! MarceIlus, still alive in 1864, ind :
! nantly took up the accusation in tha
Revue Contemporaine, but not even
to defend himself against vandalism
| Che, high placed French diplomaD
did he breathe word concerning an.
!, fight on any beach.
| Lieut.. Metterer himself had Iii.
! suspicion that Venus arms wer.
| broken off deliberately either on tna
| French ship carrying her to Paris -"
else on her arrival at the Louvre.
Remember. both he and dUrvil.
had seen her perfect in the vault
where Jorgos found her, but neither
had formed part Of the expeditiou
which had the fight. They must
| have heard of that unpleasantness ii
navy gossip. Yet neither Of then
| believed that Venus arms wer9
| broken in that struggle.
x x x X
grew uneasy as til.
| w years passed. AS navy man.
he dreaded "butting in; but, finall.
enraged by the continual disputes o.
! critics about the position OF the
| arms he up and wrote a secret no
! tice all about it. This just for his
conscience and to wash his hands 0:
it.
| He made three copies-one for the
! Archives de fart Francois. one con-
| fded secretly 10 the curator Of Toulon
Museum. and his own personal copy,
which up till recently was the prop
erty of Jean Aicard Of the French
Academy.
In this notice Metterer drew 4
rough sketch of the statue as he and
dUrville saw her standing, perfect, in
the vault where she had hidden for
1000 years. The right arm sustained
| her falling girdle, and its left one.
| raised and crooked. held an apple iii
the hand. And. in his own account.
below the sketch he quoted a manu-
script of dUrville confirming ali
! these statements.
| That was in 1882 In 1855 Metterer
revealed that Venus had been ac-
quired by force: but no more now did
i he insinuate or believe that her arms
! had been lost in the fight on the
beach quose Jean Aicard. the
academician. who has finally given TO
the public his copy Of Metterer's Sc
cret notice:
NO; Meterrer thinks TRANQUILITY"
mitted the crime of mutilating her
in Paris. and designedly. In this lie
shares the strange opinion OF Lenor-
mant, each without the others
knowledge"
D'Urville had friends in the Acad
emy of the Var at Toulon. Before
them. in November, 1920. he told how
he and Metterer had seen the statue
in her niche-"a nude woman, made
from two blocks, which / measured
separately: her left arm. raised. held
an apple, and the right sustained her
girdle.' He added simply: Both arms
are mutilated and at present detached
from the body
D'Urville told more in confidence to
these personal friends. He told the
Toulon Academy that he had wished
to give them the first full news of
his find" So on the very day of ii.
he had written them long letter.
Il addressed it," he said, ITO your
learned NJ Pons, leaving to him to ex-
plain the inscription of the statue.
But. by a singular fatality. OF all my
letters this one only was lost in the
mail, and YOU never got it,
K
THE sculptor's signature, above re-
l. ferred to. ran thus: "Andros.
Menides' son, from Antioch on the
Meander, made this work"
A base so inscribed certainly ac-
companied Venus, although (years
ago) Farnell OF oxford and the Ger
man Furtwangler found mo evidence
that it belonged to her. Then why
did it disappear? They might think
differently now. Hare, in his book
got wind of the fact that "the pedes-
tai underwent a change in the work
shops of the Louvre, and the fnscrip-
tion is no longer there" But he add
ed politely: TT would be an insult to
suggest that it could have been de-
stroyed to remove evidence that their
treasure belongs to later date than
the best Greek period"
Fudge. She is infinitely nobler and
more beautiful than all the best
works of that great Greek per1od
She is her own best proof.
So, now, American girl, get ready
with those arms Of yours to serve as
.,or+I,,, MODAL har-Sinca ~