How did the battle of Venus happen?

At that time, there was an unwritten rule in Greece that if a person was lucky enough to find a valuable ancient sculpture, he not only had the right to keep it for himself, but also could buy and sell it in the folk market. Therefore, finding a precious sculpture art is equivalent to getting a great opportunity to make a fortune.

As soon as the statue was discovered, all kinds of news spread like wildfire, and well-informed people were thinking about it. At that time, several powerful countries were trying to buy works of art in order to increase the collection of art galleries. This is especially important for France. Because it was after Napoleon's defeat that many works of art collected by Napoleon from various countries were returned to their original owners, and the Louvre Museum is trying its best to collect these works of art in order to supplement them. Therefore, France decided to buy this precious work of art at all costs. At that time, Luis Blest, the French consul in Milos, immediately started various activities, trying to buy this artwork.

At that time, the captain of a French warship moored on Milos Island urged Blest to buy this rare art treasure quickly. Blest didn't dare to make a move on this priceless but expensive work of art, so he telegraphed back to China, hoping to approve the remittance purchase. At the same time, Blest stepped up its action and signed a contract with the discoverer Jorges and the elders on the island, demanding that the statue could not be sold to the other party before the official order of the French government came, and Blest had the preemptive right to ensure foolproof.

On the third day after the Venus statue of Milos was discovered, the French cruiser La Ponte entered the harbor. Captain Toliak saw the excavated statue and immediately reported the relevant matters to David, Consul General in Smirnay. Subsequently, the French warship Knight arrived at Milos Island, with Captain martel and alternate officer Dumont Douville on board.

Douville, who has great interest in archaeology, has never seen such vivid works. They think this is the most beautiful ancient Greek sculpture they have ever seen. The two men stared at the statue for a long time, and they had a soft spot for it, and their excitement was beyond words. It's just that their warships don't have the equipment to place statues, otherwise they may buy them immediately and ship them back to China.

When the "Knight" sailed for Constantinople, Dumont Douville immediately wrote a report, with a map of the location he depicted at the Milos Island excavation site. After receiving Tolijak's report, David, then Consul General in Smirnay, immediately handed it over to the legation in Constantinople and asked whether to buy it with government money.

The French Minister Marquis Riviere received the report of David, Consul General in France, and the report of Dumont Douville. Without hesitation, he immediately decided to buy it at his own expense, and sent Mathias, a shop assistant, to Milos Island on the ship "Lestat Fudu". The ship set sail on May 30th, six weeks after the excavation date.

At this time, the competition for this newly unearthed art is intensifying. There are all kinds of activities in secret on Milos Island, and everyone tries their best to compete for this artwork. Some influential people on the island wanted to present this work of art to Nikolai Moruzzi, an official of Constantinople artillery factory who had considerable authority in the Greek islands at that time. Blest quickly stopped this crazy idea.

Later, a Greek missionary, Verqi, was accused of misappropriating public funds from the temple and wanted to buy this statue as a gift for Nikolai Moluzzi to gain his asylum. The priest persuaded him with clever words, both soft and hard, and bought it from the discoverer and the elders on the island at a high price. The priest asked the workers to carry the statue to the seaside. Legend has it that the stone statue was tied with hemp rope and dragged across the long coast, which made the shoulders, back and clothes of the stone statue wear to varying degrees. Then put the statue on a ship flying the Turkish flag. Just as the ship was about to leave, it could not sail out of the port because of the wind direction, so it had to dock.

The British authorities were also moved by the wind and immediately sent warships to Milos, trying to buy the statue first.

At this time, the French ship "Lester Du Fu" arrived at the port. Marcellus arrived in Milos Island on behalf of the French minister, immediately met with Blest to discuss, immediately declared the sale invalid, and ordered the statue to be returned to the French. Immediately after landing, marcellus persuaded the elders with the contract signed by Blest and the farmer, and finally bought this priceless work of art for about 550 francs.

1820 On May 25th, Mathias put the statue and several pieces on board the "Lester Fudu". The next day, the ship left Milos Island. Mathias wrote a catalogue on the ship, and put the upper and lower parts of the statue, the upper part of the hair, the part of the left foot, the palm holding the apple, the incomplete upper part of the arm fragment, and three stone pillars in the cabin on the middle deck. The ship passed Rhodes, Sabdes, Saida, Alexandria, Athens and other places, and reached Smirnay around the Mediterranean Sea. The statue of Venus was loaded on the "La Leonu" here and arrived in Constantinople on 10/October 24th.

165438+ 10 15, when the statue-loaded "La Leonu" bypassed Milos Island in the Mediterranean, Minister Riviere visited Milos Island again. On the one hand, he has to pay Blest in advance, and on the other hand, he wants to see if there are any newly excavated statues.

1821mid-February, after a long journey, the statue of Vienna finally arrived in Paris and was collected in the museum. On May 1 day of the same year, the Marquis of Riviere presented it to French King Louis Stanislas Xavier, who thought it was a rare treasure.