Italian, 19th century/ 20th century

This impressive marble sculpture is carved after the famed ancient marble of Venus de Milo. Excavated in 1820 by a peasant on the island of Melos, the ancient marble was soon after acquired by Marquis de Rivière, who was the French ambassador to the Porte, who subsequently gave the sculpture to Louis XVIII. In 1821, Louis XVIII exhibited his Venus de Milo in the Louvre, where it is until today.

RELATED LITERATURE

N. Penny and F. Haskell, Taste and the Antique, The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, 1981, pp.328-330, no.89