Aphrodite of Melos
Alexandros of Antioch (copy of)
Plaster cast of original, ca. 100 B.C.
Acquired by Preston Powers in Florence, Italy, ca. 1890
More popularly known as Venus de Milo, this sculpture is one of the least understood objects in the University’s art collections. In the winter of 2009, Venus returned to public view after months of conservation work. SAAH pre-conservation students, supervised by a professional art conservator, removed layers of dirt, grime and paint from the cast. We are fortunate to find this cast in reasonably good condition, despite its age. Acquired during a trip to Florence in the early 1890s by Preston Powers (one-time dean of the University of Denver Art Department and son of sculptor Hiram Powers), the cast is of high quality. Fortunately, much of the stone texture of the original marble was preserved.
During the early days of formal art education in Colorado, professors taught using classical training methods (inspired by the European tradition). Drawing from casts of ancient Greek and Roman statuary was at the core of most programs. Since access to the precious originals was virtually unobtainable, plaster casts held an increasingly important role in art education. While teaching from antique and Renaissance casts fell out of fashion in the early twentieth century, the method has not entirely disappeared from modern art curricula. Even today, studio art students at the University of Denver are assigned to draw from this Venus de Milo cast. Sadly, none of the estimated two hundred plaster casts from the 1890s in the University’s collection have survived to the present day.
University of Denver Art Collections, 1892.001