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The Aphrodite of Milos, more famously known as the Venus de Milo, is thought to be the creation of Alexandros of Antioch, a sculptor in ancient Greece. The nearly seven foot tall marble sculpture shows the goddess of love and beauty (Aphrodite in Greece, Venus in Rome- thus the name difference). It is currently on display in the Louvre Museum.
It isn't known when the work was actually created but it was found by a peasant in 1820, buried in the ruins of the ancient city of Milos on the Aegean island of the same name. It was in pieces: the larger chunks of upper torso and legs and pieces of arms and hands. A French naval officer named Jules Dumont d'Unville realized the importance of the work when he saw it and arranged for its purchase by a French ambassador to Turkey. But the peasant wanted money and sold it to a priest, who was going to give it as a gift to someone in Constantinople. A representative for the ambassador (who didn't realize it had been sold out from under him) arrived to see the statue being loaded onto a boat. He made a deal to get the statue back.
The statue was put back together in the Louve excepting the left hand and arm were omitted since it was thought they weren't parts of the original statue due to their rougher craftsmanship. It has since been decided that they were original parts, left rough by the artist since they would have been above the eye line anyway- a common technique at the time. It was given to King Louis XVIII in 1821 but he eventually gave it back to the museum, where it remains today.
The French were especially glad to get their hands on the statue since the Medici Venus, a gorgeous statue in its own right, had to be returned to Italy in 1815 (Napoleon had stolen it). The French touted the Venus de Milo as being better than the statue they had to return. The opinion on which statue was better obviously varied greatly depending on which country was asked.
It is known what the missing arms were supposed to be doing. The left would have been held slightly below eye level and the hand contained an apple. The right arm would have crossed the torso to "hold" up the drapery covering her lower body. Though the left arm and hand had been recovered it was decided to leave them off even after they were verified originals. A mystery about the limbs had already developed among the public and the omissions increased her popularity.
Based on the era in which it was believed to be created, the statue would have been fully painted to more realistically resemble a woman. She also would have been decked out in a variety of jewelry. The paint has long since worn off. The jewelry either fell off or was stolen but there are holes visible where they would have been attached.
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