todayinhistory:

April 8th 1820: The Venus de Milo discovered

On this day in 1820 the famous Ancient Greek sculpture the Venus de Milo (created between 130 and 100 BC) was discovered on the Aegean island of Milos by a peasant named Yorgos Kentrotas. It represents the goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite and so has been called the ‘Aphrodite of Milos’. He found the statue in the ancient city ruins of Milos in two main pieces along with fragments of the arms and a plinth which revealed the sculptor to be Alexandros of Antioch. The arms and plinth have since been lost. Kentrotas and French naval officer Olivier Voutier dug around the area and uncovered the statue and had it bought to the Louvre in Paris where it remains today.