Aphrodite of Melos     (Venus de Milo) -   The Louvre, Paris

Aphrodite of Melos   35" H x 9" W x 10" D 67 lbs.     Bonded White Marble on Alabaster Base $1,576 (less Internet discount of $378 = $1198        (freight collect)

Aphrodite of Melos   72" H Fiberglass with Antique Stone finish $1,580 (less Internet discount of $190) = $1,390 (freight collect)

Also available in these sizes:   Aphrodite of Melos   10" H Bonded White Marble on Alabaster Base $98 (less Internet discount of $20) = $78 (freight $12)  Aphrodite of Melos   17" H Bonded White Marble on Alabaster Base $238 (less Internet discount of $30) = $208 (freight $16)  Aphrodite of Melos   33" H Fiberglass with Antique Stone finish $258 (less Internet discount of $38) = $220 (freight collect)  Aphrodite of Melos   42" H Fiberglass with Antique Stone finish $332 (less Internet discount of $48) = $284 (freight collect)

Aphrodite of Melos   102" H Fiberglass with Antique Stone finish $2,600 (less Internet discount of $250) = $2,350 (freight collect)

The sculptor is unknown and the date of her carving is only surmised but she is one of the most famous ladies in the world. Her graceful body symbolizes an ideal of beauty that many long for but none attain. The French named her Venus de Milo. In 1820 a peasant named Yorgos found her broken body in an underground cavern on the Agean island of Melos. He knew that such treasures of antiquity were to be turned over to the Turkish authorities but for a time he hid her lovely beauty in his barn. The secret was disclosed and the officials took her from him and loaded her onto a Turkish vessel. Somehow she was transferred to a French frigate off the coast of Melos; the Turkish official was publicly whipped, the French said it was a legitimate purchase, and she who was destined to become famous sailed away to France. After the statue had been presented to King Louis XVIII, his art advisors sought the assistance of French sculptors in supplying the missing arms. They devised arms which held apples, garments, lamps, and arms that held nothing at all but pointed in various directions. Finally the king decreed that her marvelous beauty should not be marred by any other sculptor. It was a momentous decree which from that time on resulted in ancient statues being left practically as they had been found.