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Poor Venus. Widely acclaimed as the epitome of female beauty and Grecian art, she lacks those attractive appendages known as arms. And as far as we can tell, "Venus de Milo" has been armless since the world rediscovered her. The life-size statue of the goddess of love was uncovered in 1820 on Melos, an island in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Crete. A French navy ensign stationed on Melos was watching local farmers digging up stones for use in construction when he oversaw the discovery of Venus. Along with the island's French vice-consol, he bargained
with the farmer and bought the statue for his home country. From the first sighting, Venus had no arms. Initially she was in several pieces, which were recovered and assembled, but nobody could find the arms. An apocryphal tale from later in the 19th century claimed that her arms broke off during a tussle between French sailors and Turkish soldiers. But this story is contradicted by earlier, more reliable sources. "Venus de Milo" has resided in the Louvre since her discovery, and many have speculated on what her arms may have looked like. Contrary to some humorous suggestions,
we think Venus' arms would be as lovely as the rest of her.
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