The Disinterment of Venus

"The Disinternment of Venus" is a short story by Clark Ashton Smith, set in Averoigne, his semi-historical French province. It first appeared in the July 1934 issue of Weird Tales. 
Set in the year 1550, the story relates the unearthing of a pagan statue of Venus at Averoigne's Abbey of Périgon, and the unsettling effect its erotic qualities have on the monks there.
==Characters==
*Paul: The eldest of three monks who discover the statue of Venus while digging in the abbey's vegetable garden. A "man of ripe years, hale and robust," he cleans the dirt off the statue when it is first unearthed, and polishes it with the hem of his robe. He is one of eight monks who is driven by lust to temporarily leave the abbey.
*Pierre: Another monk, "in his early prime," who helped to unearth the statue. He was also found absent without leave from the abbey.
*Hughues: The third monk involved with the discovery, he was "little more than a boy, and had but recently taken his final vows." Like the others, he was drawn from the monastery by an unaccountable lechery.
*Augustin: the "saintly abbot" of Périgon, of "reverend age" and known for his "rigorous temper." He thinks the statue should certainly be destroyed, but feels "a queer and unaccountable hesitation which led him to defer the necessary orders for her demolishment." After Louis meets his grisly fate, he orders it reburied instead.
*Brother Louis: A monk known for his "comely face" (as "[h]andsome as Adonis") and his "his austere piety": "he was given to ascetic vigils and prolonged devotions." He resolves to destroy the offensive statue, but when he approaches it with a hammer, he is overcome by passion and ends up crushed to death beneath the toppled sculpture's embrace.
==The Statue==
Smith describes the statue as "the masterpiece of an unknown, decadent sculptor":
==Publication History==
After its initial appearance in Weird Tales, "The Disinterment of Venus" appeared in several collections of Smith's fiction, starting with Genius Loci and Other Tales (Arkham House, 1970). It is included in both The Averoigne Archives (Pickman's Press, 2019) and The Averoigne Chronicles (Hippocampus Press, 2021).
It is featured in 100 Wild Little Weird Tales (Barnes & Noble Books, 1994).
==External Link==
*"The Disinternment of Venus" complete text at Eldritch Dark
Category:Clark Ashton Smith works
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Averoigne Cycle