The Judgement of Paris was a contest which stemmed from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Image from Wikipedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Kousser suggests that “Aphrodite likely held out an apple in token of her victory in the Judgement of Paris” (Kousser (2005) 227).įigure 1: The Venus de Milo, Accession number: LL 299, Louvre Museum, Paris. If true, it implies that the Venus de Milo is in fact a representation of Aphrodite, as is generally accepted. Some claim that the “left hand holding an apple”, (Arenas (2002) 37) although this is a topic of debate amongst scholars. Perhaps the most noticeable element when initially viewing the statue is her lack of arms, encouraging the audience to question where her arms are, the original positioning of them, and whether she was holding anything. She stands in contrapposto (counter pose), with a realistic weight distribution, echoing the naturalistic aspects of Hellenistic art. The Venus (Figure 1) stands at slightly larger than life size, at around six foot seven inches. There are also rumours, however, of the Venus being found by a Greek farmer, so the story of its discovery remains contentious. The statue was found on the Aegean island of Melos in 1820, possibly by a member of the French Navy, named Olivier Voutier, who anchored in Melos and spent time digging through the remains of a theatre and searching for antiquities. The Venus is a sculpture by Alexandros of Antioch, although little is known about the artist. The Venus de Milo, which can be found in the Louvre Museum in Paris, is one of the most famous Hellenistic artworks in the world. The Male Gaze Made Marble? The Venus de Milo, by Katharine Broderick
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