Disarmed
The Story of the Venus de Milo
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
In the spring of 1820, on the Aegean island of Melos, an unsuspecting farmer was digging for marble building blocks when he unearthed the statue that would come to be known as the Venus de Milo. From the moment of its discovery a battle for possession ensued and was won, eventually, by the French. Touted by her keepers in the Louvre as the great classical find of the era, the sculpture gained instant celebrity–and yet its origins had yet to be documented or verified.
From the flurry of excitement surrounding her discovery, to the raging disputes over her authenticity, to the politics and personalities that have given rise to her mystique, Gregory Curtis has given us a riveting look at the embattled legacy of a beloved icon and a remarkable tribute to one of the world’s great works of art.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1820 on the island of Melos, a young French naval officer and a local farmer discovered the hulking halves of an armless statue. The Venus de Milo has since graced car advertisements, adorned matchboxes and inspired artists from Dal to Jim Dine. Former Texas Monthly editor Curtis simply chalks up the Venus's omnipresence to its timeless beauty, and he impressively details an era when the statue seemed "less like a thing than an event." Relating how the French returned to Melos just in time to intercept a Russian boat bearing their treasure away, Curtis dismisses the mythic "fight on the beach" in which the Venus supposedly lost her arms; she had been found without them. Inspired by Johann Winckelmann's theories of Greek art, the Louvre's officials insisted on dating their acquisition to the classical age, rather than to the Hellenistic period of artistic decadence. Hence, the inscribed base that attributed the work to the Hellenistic sculptor Alexandros was conveniently "lost" for a time. For his part, Curtis ventures that the Venusonce stood in the niche of a Greek gymnasium and held an apple, symbol of Melos and of the debate that launched the Trojan War. But more compellingly, his sense of a good anecdote revives the myriad characters (often shown among the 21 illustrations) who furiously debated the statue's origin, identity and even placement in the Louvre as late as the 20th century. Such scholars exuded "an enthusiasm for the statue, almost a gratitude for its presence in their lives." This enthusiasm, Curtis's work suggests, is what museum-goers maintain and contemporary critics too often forget; his judicious book may push them to remember.
Customer Reviews
An exhaustive look at an icon
For anyone who might've wondered if there was more to the Venus de Milo beyond the question of her arms, this book answers with a resounding YES! Topics addressed include the question of her origin, the circumstances of her discovery, the lives of many different people involved with the history of the statue and how she came to be one of the top three attractions of the Louvre Museum. The only real quibble I have with this book is the paucity of illustrations. The author mentions many details about the damage the statue has suffered, the technical points of ancient sculpting techniques and some of the restorations carried out after her arrival at the Louvre, but there aren't recall any great photos or diagrams to illustrate the stories. The writing and pace are brisk and very easy for the layperson to grasp and the author does an incredible job explaining rather complex art/archaeological/political/sexual issues with ease for the reader. Unless you can read French and make use of the mostly dated, older books about the Venus de Milo published in the last century (if you can even find them) this is well and truly the only book you need to pick up.