Greek · Hellenistic sculpture
Alexandros of Antioch
b. active late 2nd – early 1st century BC, Antioch on the Maeander (Asia Minor)
Alexandros of Antioch was a Hellenistic Greek sculptor, son of Menides, generally credited with the Venus de Milo in the Louvre on the evidence of an inscribed plinth found with the statue on Melos in 1820 and later lost.
1 work in the collection
Works by Alexandros of Antioch
Alexandros of Antioch is the name most scholars attach to the Venus de Milo, the armless marble Aphrodite found on the Aegean island of Melos in 1820 and displayed in the Louvre since 1821. He is otherwise an obscure figure, known from two or three inscriptions rather than from any ancient writer.
The lost plinth
Alongside the statue's fragments, the excavators found a block of marble inscribed with a sculptor's signature. Its opening letters were broken, but it read, in substance: “…andros, son of Menides, citizen of Antioch on the Maeander, made this.” The name is usually restored as Alexandros. Antioch on the Maeander was a small Greek city in Caria, in what is now southwestern Turkey, not the great Syrian Antioch.
The block reached Paris and then disappeared. Drawings made at the time preserve it, but its loss fed a long suspicion that it had been mislaid on purpose. French officials and scholars of the 1820s hoped the statue was a classical original by Praxiteles; a signature by a provincial artist of the later Hellenistic period, its letter forms datable after about 150 BC, spoiled that story. Whether the plinth truly belonged to the statue is still argued, but most modern specialists accept the attribution and date the Venus to the late second century BC.
Other traces
An inscription from Thespiae in Boeotia, dated around 80 BC, records an Alexandros son of Menides of Antioch as a victor in contests for composing and singing. If this is the same man, he was a versatile, traveling artist who worked on commission across the Greek world. A statue of a young man, sometimes identified as Alexander the Great, also found on Melos and now in the Louvre, has been attributed to him as well.
Style
The Venus de Milo shows what a Hellenistic sculptor could do with classical models. Its calm face and proportions look back to the fourth century BC, while the spiraling pose, the deep-cut drapery slipping from the hips and the contrast between smooth skin and heavy cloth are typical of the later period.
Where to see the work
The Venus de Milo stands in the Louvre, Paris, in the Sully wing. Explore more in Greek Statues and Famous Sculptures, or compare the classical ideal of Phidias.
Questions & answers
Who sculpted the Venus de Milo?
The Venus de Milo is generally attributed to Alexandros of Antioch, a Hellenistic sculptor, son of Menides. The evidence is an inscribed plinth found with the statue on Melos in 1820, which named a sculptor from Antioch on the Maeander. The plinth was later lost, so some doubt remains.
When did Alexandros of Antioch live?
His exact dates are unknown. The lettering of the Melos inscription points to after about 150 BC, and an inscription from Thespiae of around 80 BC may record the same man. He was therefore active in the late second and early first centuries BC.
Why was the Venus de Milo's plinth lost?
The inscribed block disappeared soon after reaching the Louvre in the early 1820s. Many historians suspect it was set aside because its signature showed the statue was a later Hellenistic work, not a classical original by Praxiteles as French authorities hoped. Drawings of the inscription survive.