ANATOMY OF ART: VENUS DE MILO

Aphrodite of Melos, c. 150–100 BCE. 6 ft 85/16 in (2.04 m). Paris, Musée du Louvre MA399/400

Making Art

Nude sculptures of Aphrodite are among the most popular subjects of Hellenistic statues.
Attributed as one of the most famous ancient Greek sculptures, Aphrodite of Melos, more
popularly known as Venus de Milo, exhibits the stylistic features shared by early replicas
of Aphrodite of Knidos. Sculpted to have a richly textured hair, soft and flawless skin, and
rounded abdomen and limbs, this statue portrays the representation of venerated female
beauty and grace we can attribute to Praxitelean style.

Analyzing Art

The style and quality in which Venus de Milo was sculpted shows a retrospective and
neoclassical features we see in sculptures that have religious or social functions. This
function is a presentation of the academic mentality in Hellenistic age. The sculpture is
very lifelike as if the artist has met Aphrodite himself and the goddess posed for him so
that he can carve an image of her out from marble.

Disseminating Art

The Praxitelean sculpture was excavated in 1820 from the Aegean island of Melos. The
base of the sculpture has its sculptor inscribed in it. The statue permanently resides now
on Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

Interpreting Art

Hellenistic sculptures of Aphrodite are often portrayed in nudity. Venus de Milo is no

different. However, there is more to this sculpture than the female body in nude. Aphrodite
of Melos was sculpted to have such a sinuous and flexible body. This is one of the most
common stylistic features of Hellenistic sculptures that has the influence of Praxiteles.
We see bodies being sculpted from a very rigid material, marble, yet the subjects are so
nonchalantly curved. Seldom having a straight and stiff position, being so impossibly
curve gives these sculptures their ageless grace and ambiguity. There is not an emotion
in the faces of these statues yet their bodies insinuate elegance and poise.