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The so-called Vénus de Milo is perhaps one of the most iconic works of Western art of any period. The statue of the goddess was found on the Aegean island of Milos, to which she owes her name, on the eve of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830 CE). With her delicate face and elegant curves, she is a vision of grace and beauty. She gazes serenely ahead, her expression peaceful, befitting a goddess. The softness of her upper body contrast with the heavy, elaborately draped garment that almost seems to slip off her hips. This enchanting figure is believed to represent Aphrodite, who in the famous story about the Trojan War was awarded the golden apple intended for the most beautiful goddess. And upon seeing this more than life-size statue in the Louvre, the viewer tends to understand Paris’ decision.
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The truth about the exact circumstances surrounding the discovery of the Vénus de Milo at its findspot is irretrievably lost.
We learn from these accounts that a peasant – by the name of Yorgos or Giorgios Kentrotas or Kendrotas and/or his father Theodoros; or Theodore Kondros Botoni; or Yorgos and his son Antonio Bottonis – discovered the statue while plowing the field or while searching for reusable building blocks in February or April 1820 CE; and that they found it on or near the peasant’s plot of land, on a rocky hillside, in a small (oblong or oval) cave or cavity, in a buried or otherwise concealed chamber or niche, or among the ancient city ruins or the ancient (amphi-)theater. Other accounts describe its discovery on terraced steps covering an ancient Roman gymnasium, in the ancient city wall, in a Roman boundary-wall or in an apse of a 7th-century CE Christian church or chapel in the vicinity of the modern capital of the island (variously called Milos, Castro, or Trypiti).
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