BOOKS: Disarmed The Story of the Venus de Milo

She was discovered in 1820 by a Greek peasant on the Aegean island of Milos. She is the beauty with no arms, a cultural icon. Admired by tens of millions she now resides at the Louvre, but what is the object of her gaze? No one knows for sure. This grand lady has quite a past though and Gregory Curtis was intent on finding it out when he researched his 2004 book, “Disarmed The Story of the Venus de Milo.” Her past is indeed checkered. People have lied about her, told stories and Cutis, in his meticulously researched book, sets out to dispel some of these false stories and out right lies. Does he succeed? Yes. It turns out her tale is a convoluted one. How did she lose her arms? Many said in a wild battle on the beach at Milos between Greek brigands and French sailors vying to possess her__such was her beauty. Supposedly she was lashed about and broken in the heat of the battle. Hmm, not quite says Curtis, drawings of the statue when it was first discovered show that its arms were already missing. Well maybe she was in an earlier brawl, we just don’t know. Her beginnings are still a bit mirky and Curtis also attempts to clear things up as much as possible. The Venus de Milo was first recognized as a piece of valuable art by French naval officer Olivier Voutier, as such the French government wanted to claim its prize, however the representative of the French ambassador's secretary was a little slow of foot to arrive on Milos for the purchase and the Greek peasant who discovered it sold it to the Turks. At the last minute the French ambassador's representative arrived just as the Turks were loading it onto a ship bound for Constantinople. He seized it and today it sits in the Louvre. Sad note though, the Sultan’s representative, who lost the statue to the French, was executed in 1821. So the de Milo was fought over after all, however sans the brigands and the battle, but still with and execution in her wake. So she does have an interesting past after all and Curtis succeeds at admirably telling it. That’s the strength of this book, Curtis manages to bring to light the actual intrigue that surrounded the statue after its discovery. Not only does he set the facts straight, but also gives flesh to the odd assortment of eccentrics responsible for the statues discovery and its eventual display at the Louvre. This is a well written and remarkable book.