Statue Week: Some Statue Factlets

Having mentioned a number of statues last week – VJ Day statue, Marilyn Monroe – I have decreed that this week will be Statue Week.

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The Lowenmensch, or Lion Man, from the Swabian Alps in Germany, is the oldest known statute in the world and dates to 40,000 years ago. It is a lion headed figurine about 30 cm in height.

Venus of Dolni Vestonice ceramic figurine 29,000BC-25,000BC

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The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World include two statues:

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios erected in the city of Rhodes between 292BC-280BC to celebrate the victory of Rhodes over Cyprus. It was destroyed in an earthquake in 226BC. At over 30m/100 feet in height, it was one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, about 13m/42 feet in height, was made by the Greek sculptor Phidias in 430-422 BC. Depicting a giant seated Zeus and erected in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia , it was made of plated ivory and gold panels over a wooden framework. The cedarwood throne upon which Zeus was sitting was made of ebony, ivory, gold, and precious stones. It was destroyed in the 5th century AD (there are various accounts as to who ordered it and as to why). No copy of the statue has ever been found, and details of its form are known only from ancient Greek descriptions and representations on coins.

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The Venus de Milo is a famous Greek statue now in the Louvre. Believed to be from the period 130-100BC, the statue is of a beautiful young woman whose drapery is about to slip off her hips, revealing her top and part of her derriere. Found on the island of Milos in 1820 with her arms in fragments, it is believed that the woman depicted is the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. Her left hand had been holding an apple and it is believed that her right arm was holding her drapery. 

The following reconstruction by the website Sabre Point shows how the Venus may have looked with arms:

Another possible explanation: