Disarmed

In Disarmed; Gregory Curtis gives us the life of this magnificent statue. Unearthed by a farmer digging for marble building blocks on the Aegean island of Melos; at the moment a young officer and amateur archaeologist happened by; the ownership of the Venus was fought over by the island's elders and their Turkish overlords. The French pressed their claim and then; outwitting other suitors; brought her to the Louvre; where she became an immediate celebrity. A passionate researcher; Curtis shows us Europe in the early nineteenth century; caught in the grip of a classical art mania and a burgeoning romantic Hellenism. He sketches a tale of rich historical intrigue; revealing just how far the Louvre was prepared to go to prove it had the greatest classical find of the era. And how two magisterial scholars; one French and one German; battled over the statue's origins and authenticity for decades. This is a marvellously readable and entertaining history of one of the best known artworks in the world.