1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey Brainstuff. 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: Luren Bobebam here. She's one of the most recognizable figures 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: in the art world, but she's shrouded in mystery ever 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: since Louis the eighteenth donated her to the Louver in 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,159 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty one. She's captured the attention and praise of 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 1: audiences and historians, but many are still baffled by her origins. 7 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: So who is Venus de Milo and what exactly happened 8 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: to her arms? The half draped, armless marble statue of 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: a goddess that many of us know as the Venus 10 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: de Milo likely represents one of two figures who aren't 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: technically Venus, the Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty and fertility, 12 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: but rather either Aphrodite, Venus's Greek counterpart, or Amphride, the 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: goddess queen of the Sea and wife of Poseidon. But 14 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: when the statue was discovered in eighteen twenty on the 15 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: Greek island of Milos and presented to Louis, who in 16 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: turn donated her to the Louver, no one was quite 17 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: sure what to make of her. For the article this 18 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: episode is based on has to work spoke via email 19 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,839 Speaker 1: with Andrew Stewart Nicholas C. Petris, Professor of Greek Studies 20 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: Emeritus at UC Berkeley. He said, when the Louve acquired 21 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: the statue in eighteen twenty, the British Museum had just 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,680 Speaker 1: acquired the Elgin Marbles, universally attributed to the fifth century 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: BC sculptor Phideous, generally acknowledged by ancients and moderns as 24 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: the greatest of Greek sculptors. Since she was obviously later 25 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:34,119 Speaker 1: stylistically but still classical, she was immediately attributed to Praxilites, 26 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,680 Speaker 1: the greatest fourth century BC sculptor and universally acknowledged master 27 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: of the female nude epitomized by the love goddess Aphrodite. 28 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,960 Speaker 1: A base found with her signed by the sculptor Alexandro's 29 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: of Magnesia on the Meander, a city not founded until 30 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: the third century b c. E was thus immediately and 31 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: conveniently lost. According to Stuart, a German archaeologist is credited 32 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: with discovering Venus de Biolo's true root as a Greek 33 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: neo classical statue, not a classical one, but the revelation 34 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: didn't come until the late nineteenth century. When he realized 35 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: that her drapery was clearly Hellenistic and probably created in 36 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: the second century BC. Despite her real identity, the statue 37 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: is still often tied to an older era. Stewart said 38 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: she still is regarded as a masterpiece of the classical genre, 39 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: partly because we have so few originals of her size, 40 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: state of preservation and quality. If you've never seen her 41 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: in person, you may not know how much larger than 42 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: life she really is. The Venus de Milo stands some 43 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: six ft eight inches tall that's about two hundred and 44 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: four centimeters. Some details of her original appearance are known. 45 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: For one thing, she originally wore metal jewelry, including a bracelet, earrings, 46 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: and headband. Since there are fixation holes remaining in the 47 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: appropriate locations on the statue, the marble that she's carved 48 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: from may have been embellished with painting, gilding, silvering, or 49 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: other coloration that's since faded or fallen away. And at 50 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: some point she did in fact have arms, but they 51 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,959 Speaker 1: were never found. Stewart said, the right arm is broken away, 52 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: its hand originally grasped the top of her drapery. The 53 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:15,679 Speaker 1: bust legs, left arm, foot base, and herm socketed into 54 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: the base, were carved separately and doweled on with iron 55 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: dowels set and lead, a common technique. A herm, by 56 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: the way, is a square pillar that's topped with a 57 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: carved statue of a god's head, often hermes, hence the name. 58 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: Stewart said that at the end of Antiquity, a time 59 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: period that signifies the transition from the Greco Roman period 60 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: to the Middle Ages, someone removed Venus's limbs in order 61 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: to take the metal dowels and recycle them. Quote. The 62 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: best bet, in my opinion, is that she held an 63 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: apple in her outstretched left hand, which would have rested 64 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: on the herm. Such an arm was found in a 65 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: nearby niche and is represented in a nineteenth century drawing 66 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: in the louver. The apple would be both her personal 67 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: accessory or attribute her toke and prize at the Judgment 68 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: of Paris, and a pun on the name of the island, 69 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: since the Greek for apple is Milan and apple's feature 70 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: prominently on Hellenistic million coins. The Judgment of Paris is 71 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: a Greek myth that's central to Venus de Milo's many 72 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:20,720 Speaker 1: symbolic ties. It describes a contest between three goddesses Aphrodite, Hera, 73 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: and Athena for the prize of a golden apple addressed 74 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: to the fairest. Stewart wrote all about this in his 75 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 1: book Art in the Hellenistic World. An introduction quote from 76 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: that book dedicated to the gods of the Gymnasium in 77 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: which she was found. She would have symbolized the ties 78 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: of affection that united the Melians who exercised there. Moreover, 79 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: Greeks had long understood the judgment of Paris as symbolizing 80 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: a man's three principal life choices, war Athena of politics, 81 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: Hera or love Aphrodite. Stewart says that because they were 82 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: at the time largely engaged in Warren politics, that third category, 83 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: love of marriage and home life, were attractive or aspirational. 84 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: He said that Venus's multidimensional appeal quote would have created 85 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: the sense of an in group among the Gymnasians clientele, 86 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: satisfying at one stroke the demands of local piety and 87 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: this culture's overriding desire to connect. But this is just 88 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: one theory how stuff works. Also spoke with Elizabeth Wayland Barber, 89 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: Professor Emerita of Archaeology and Linguistics at Occidental College and 90 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: author of Women's Work the First twenty thousand years Women, 91 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,359 Speaker 1: Cloth and society in early times, She thinks Venus's missing 92 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,799 Speaker 1: arms were very much engaged in a different and meaningful 93 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: domestic activity. She said, while studying the origin and development 94 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: of textiles in the Eastern Hemisphere, I found copious evidence 95 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: that women were always doing most are all of the 96 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: textile related work. The Venus de Milo is an exactly 97 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: the position used at that time and place for spinning bread, 98 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: the part of the job that took the most time, 99 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: so women were spinning every moment they could find. Barbara 100 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: says that although the statue's arms are long gone, the 101 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: musculature sculpted in her shoulders and upper back suggests that 102 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: they were raised in just the position required for spinning, 103 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: and her eyes are focused on the exact spot one 104 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: would have to watch as they spun, she said. Also, 105 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: Aphrodite a k A. Venus was viewed by the Greeks 106 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: as the goddess of spinning as well as of procreation, 107 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: but the two are closely linked, both by the umbilical 108 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: cord attached to the new baby and by the fact 109 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,919 Speaker 1: that in both spinning and baby making you start with 110 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 1: a formless blob and create something remarkable out of it, 111 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: seemingly by magic. Whatever the case, we can all agree 112 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: that the Venus de Milo is one of the most 113 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: enduringly fascinating, albeit puzzling products of the Hellenistic period. Today's 114 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: episode is based on the article Venus de Milo the 115 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: most famous arm a statue in the world on how 116 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: Stuffworks dot Com, written by Michell Konstantinovski. Brain Stuff is 117 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff 118 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: works dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Klang. 119 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: Or more podcasts. For my heart radio, visit the i 120 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 121 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.