It is said that the base of this statue
with the name of the artist upon it was destroyed, for the purpose of
leading the King of France to believe it to be more ancient than it
really is (Fig. 58, _frontispiece_).

This magnificent statue was discovered in 1820 by a peasant of the town
of Melos, or Milo, on the island of the same name. It was in a niche of
a wall which had long been buried. The Marquis of Riviere, who was the
French Ambassador at Constantinople, purchased it and presented it to
King Louis XVIII., who placed it in the Louvre. It is made from two
blocks of marble joined above the drapery which envelops the legs. As
the statue now stands it has the tip of the nose and the foot which
projects beyond the drapery as they have been restored by modern
artists.

This is the only Venus which has come down to us from the past which
represents a goddess rather than a beautiful woman. The form has beauty
of the highest type, but it has a grandeur which exalts it far above
mere beauty. The pure, majestic expression of the head and face speak
the calm dignity of a superior being. I shall quote from Perry, who
says: "The Venus de Milo is justly admired, not only for the grandeur of
its design, the perfection of its proportion, and the exquisite moulding
of the superb and luxuriant form, but for the vivid freshness of the
flesh and the velvet softness of the skin, in which it stands unrivalled
in ancient and modern art. The extraordinary skill with which minute
details, such as the folds of the skin in the neck, are harmonized with
the ideal beauty of the whole is beyond all imitation and all praise.
The life-like effect of this wonderful masterpiece is greatly enhanced
by the rare and perfect preservation of the epidermis and by the
beautiful warm, yellowish tinge which the lapse of centuries has given
to the marble."

In the Museum at Naples is the Farnesian Hercules, which was found in
the Baths of Caracalla, in Rome, in 1540. It was first placed in the
Farnese Palace, and from that circumstance received the name by which it
is known. It is the work of Glycon, an Athenian, and his name is
inscribed upon it. There is little doubt that this is a copy of a more
ancient statue by the great Lysippus; that master created
representations of Hercules in all ages and forms. Glycon probably
worked in the time of Hadrian; and though he copied the design and form
of Lysippus, he exaggerated some points so as to injure the ef