Venus de Milo

Greece to Paris, 530 BCE–1890

Greek, sculptor unknown

Venus de Milo

about 150–125 BCE

Parian marble, 80 1/4 in. high. Louvre, Paris

Look at the twist: the hips turn one way and the shoulders the other, so the figure is a spiral you have to walk around.

Look at

  • The weight is on one hip, so the stomach curves and one side of the waist folds in.
  • The torso is carved as rounded, weighty masses, with soft transitions and no hard edges.
  • The cloth bunches in thick ridges at the hips, a heavy block that holds the smooth body above it up.
  • The skin surface is slightly grainy, so it catches light more gently than a polish would.
  • Carved in two blocks joined at the hips. Both arms are missing, all but a stub.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (photographer's release)

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