The Venus de Milo was discovered on the Greek island of Milos. Its name preserves the island’s ancient Greek name, Melos, rendered in modern English as Milos.
A Greek farmer found the statue on 8 April 1820 while the island was still under Ottoman rule. French naval officer Olivier Voutier witnessed the discovery and encouraged further digging. The excavation revealed the statue in several pieces, along with fragments including an arm and a hand holding an apple—clues that helped inspire its identification as Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.
The sculpture was soon acquired by French representatives and transported to France. It entered the Louvre in 1821, where it remains one of the museum’s most recognizable works. It is usually dated to the Hellenistic period, probably the 2nd century BCE, and is carved from Parian marble.
A common mix-up is confusing Milos with the statue’s modern home: the Venus de Milo is displayed in Paris, but it was discovered on Milos. Its arms are missing, and scholars still debate its exact subject, pose, and sculptor.