The goddess of love, her graceful body symbolizes an ideal of beauty. The French named her Venus di Milo (Venus of Melos). In 1820 a peasant named Yorgos found her broken body in an underground cavern on the Aegean island of Melos. Later she was spirited out of Greece under questionable circumstances and taken to the Louvre in Paris.

Who carved Venus de Milo?
Alexandros from Antioch carved his artist inscription on the base of the statue. He based his artwork on the statue of Aphrodite from the 4 th Century B.C. who held a shield of Ares in both her hands.
A fragment of the forearm and the hand holding an apple was discovered near the larger part of the statue. He thus presented Aphrodite (Venus) as the goddess of the Apple Island, since Milos means "apple" in Greek. Legend has it that Milos was the first person sent to the island by the goddess Venus. It is speculated that Venus de Milo might have held her garment in her other hand.
It was earlier thought to be the work of Praxiteles, but the Alexandros inscription on the now lost podium, was later found. A late 19 th century story indicated that the arms were broken of through a struggle among French and Turkish soldiers over the statue. The story was later proved wrong.