,,venus                           ,,to  
,,the ,,venus ,,of ,,melos              
,illustration3    ,,drawn ,,by          
,,gertrude ,,huebsch                    
,,venus                           ,,to  
,,the ,,venus ,,of ,,melos              
,,auguste ,,rodin                       
,,authorized ,,translation              
,,from ,,the ,,french ,,by              
,,dorothy ,,dudley  ,illustration       
,,new ,,york3 ,b4 ,w4 ,,huebsch         
#aiab                                   
,,copyright1 #aiab1                     
,,by ,b4 ,w4 ,,huebsch                  
,,printed ,,in ,u4,s4,a4                
,,venus                           ,,to  
,,the ,,venus ,,of ,,melos   ,modelled  
by the sea1 which is the reservoir of   
all the forces1 you enchant us and you  
sway us by that grace and by that calm  
which strength alone possesses1 and you 
bestow on us your serenity4 ,it prevails
 like the charm of melodies powerful and
 deep4  ,what triumphant amplitude6     
,what vigorous shadows6  ,from the      

boundaries of the two worlds' throngs   
come to contemplate you1 venerated      
marble2 and the twilight deepens in the 
room that you may be more clearly seen1 
shining alone1 while the silent hours   
pass1 heavy with admiration4  ,still you
 hear our clamours1 immortal ,venus6    
,having loved your contemporaries1 you  
belong to us1 now1 to all of us1 to the 
universe4 ,the twenty-five centuries of 
your life seem only to have consecrated 
your invincible youth4 ,and the         
generations1 those waves of the ocean of
 the ages1 to you1 victorious over time1
 come and come again1 attracted and     
recalled irresistibly4 ,admiration is   
not spent as a marble wears away4  ,to  
the poets1 to the seekers1 to the quiet 
artists1 in the heart of the city's     
tumult1 you give long moments of refuge4
 ,mutilated1 you remain entire to their 
eyes4 ,if the ravages of time have been 
permitted1 it is only that a trace may  
continue of their profane effort and of 
their impotence4  ,you are not a vain   

and sterile statue1 the image of some   
unreal goddess of the ,empyrean4 ,ready 
for action1 you breathe1 you are a      
woman3 and that is your glory4 ,you are 
goddess only in name2 the mythological  
nectar does not run in your veins4 ,what
 is divine in you is the infinite love  
of your sculptor for nature4 ,more      
ardent and above all more patient than  
other men1 he was able to lift a corner 
of the veil too heavy for their idle    
hands4  ,and you are not1 moreover1 a   
mosaic of admirable shapes4 ,there are  
no admirable shapes1 but the shapes that
 agree1 those that summon and presuppose
 one another according to the           
irrefutable logic of harmonious         
necessity1 those that borrow life from  
one another4 ,yours gather in an        
indivisible whole1 and it is the calm   
torrent of life that passes over you1   
that torrent whence you have sprung1    
naked and one4  ,collected beauties     
could never have attained this unity4   
,one detail that harmonized not with all

 the others1 the least variance between 
the profiles1 and the work of art would 
be destroyed1 a useless thing1 a        
senseless construction1 renounced by the
 light1 and doomed to all the poverties1
 to all the discords4 ,this would be    
fatally the lot of even a clever        
assemblage1 of even perfect pieces1     
chosen from different marbles4  ,but    
you1 you live1 you think1 and your      
thoughts are those of a woman1 and not  
of ,i know not what superior being1     
foreign1 imaginary1 artificial4 ,you are
 made only of truth2 and it is of truth 
alone that your omnipotence is born4    
,there is nothing strong1 there is      
nothing beautiful outside of the truth4 
,your truth is within reach of everyone3
 it is woman1 whom each one thinks he   
knows1 the intimate companion of men2   
yet nobody has seen her1 the wise not   
more than the simple4 ,and the trees1   
who looks at them8 ,the light has no    
spectators4  ,nevertheless1 except      
through confining oneself to the        

observation of reality1 constant1       
scrupulous1 and ever more profound1 no  
one can accomplish anything4 ,there are 
people who say to you1 8,the ,ideal40   
,if this word is not void of meaning1 it
 signifies only a stupidity4 ,the       
,ideal6 ,the ,fantasy6 ,but the         
realities of nature surpass our most    
ambitious fancies4 ,our thought is but  
an imperceptible point in nature4 ,the  
part does not embrace1 does not dominate
 the whole4  ,man is incapable of       
creating1 of inventing4 ,he can only    
approach nature1 submissively1 lovingly4
 ,for the rest1 she will not disappear  
from his sight2 he has but to look1 she 
will let him see what by force of       
patience he has arrived at              
understanding--that only4 ,and yet the  
part is beautiful6 ,he is an equal of   
,prometheus1 he1 who has known how to   
ravish from nature the life we adore in 
the ,venus of ,melos4  ,nothing will    
take the place of persevering study4 ,to
 it alone the secret of life delivers   

itself4 ,give your life patiently1      
passionately to understanding life4     
,what profit1 if you come indeed to     
understand6 ,you will be in the circle  
of joy forever4  ,to understand1 to     
see--truly to see6 ,would one recoil    
before the necessary effort1 before the 
indispensable apprenticeship1 however   
long and laborious1 if he foresaw the   
happiness of understanding8  ,to        
understand6 ,it is--not to die6  ,for me
 the antique masterpieces are mingled in
 my memory with all the pleasures of my 
youth2 or rather the ,antique is my     
youth itself that rises again to my     
heart and hides from me my age4 ,in the 
,louvre1 of old1 like saints to a monk  
in his cloister1 the ,olympian gods said
 to me all that a young man might       
usefully hear2 later they protected and 
inspired me2 after an absence of twenty 
years1 ,i found them again with an      
indescribable joy1 and ,i understood    
them4 ,these divine fragments1 these    
marbles1 older than two thousand years1 

speak to me louder1 move me more than   
human beings4 ,in its turn may the new  
century meditate upon these marvels1 and
 may it try to ascend to them through   
intelligence and love4 ,it will owe to  
them its highest joys4 ,man may be the  
forger of his happiness4  ,the ,antique 
and ,nature are bound by the same       
mystery4 ,the ,antique--it is the human 
workman arrived at a supreme degree of  
mastery4 ,but ,nature is above him4 ,the
 mystery of ,nature is even more        
insoluble than that of genius4 ,the     
glory of the ,antique is in having      
understood ,nature4  ,o1 ,venus of      
,melos1 the prodigious sculptor that    
fashioned you knew how to make the      
thrill of that generous nature flow in  
you1 the thrill of life itself--,o1     
,venus1 arch of the triumph of life1    
bridge of truth1 circle of grace6  ,what
 splendour in your beautiful torso      
seated firmly on your solid legs1 and in
 those half tones that sleep upon your  
breasts1 upon your splendid belly1 large

 like the sea6 ,it is the rhythmic      
beauty of the sea without end4444 ,you  
are in truth the mother of gods and of  
men4  ,the generative profile of that   
torso helps us to understand1 reveals to
 us the proportions of the world4 ,and  
the miracle is in this1 that the        
assembled profiles1 in the sense of     
depth1 of length1 and of width1 express1
 by an incomprehensible magic1 the human
 soul and its passions1 and the         
character that shapes the heart of      
beings4  ,illustration  ,the ancients   
have obtained by a minimum of gesture1  
by their modelling1 both the individual 
character and the grace borrowed from   
grandeur that relates the human form to 
the forms of the universal life4 ,the   
modelling of the human being has with   
them all the beauty of the curved lines 
of flowers4 ,and the profiles are       
secure1 ample like those of great       
mountains2 it is architecture4 ,above   
all they are simple2 they are calm like 
the serpents of ,apollo4  ,perhaps it is

 the terms of anatomy that have had the 
deplorable effect of imposing on the    
mind the prejudice toward the division  
of the shapes of the body4 ,the great   
geometric and magnetic line of life     
hence remains as if broken in the regard
 of the passer-by4 ,this theoretical    
analysis has altered among the          
uninitiated the sense of the truth4     
,the work of art protests against this  
false and factitious idea of division4  
,those concordant shapes that pass one  
into the other as undulate the knots of 
the reptile1 and that suddenly          
penetrate1 they are the body in its     
magnificent unity4  ,left to themselves 
the ignorant see only the apparent      
details of things2 the source of        
expression1 the synthesis alone         
eloquent1 escapes them4 ,it is          
lamentable that anatomic description    
gives in some measure support to the    
plastic ignorance of the multitude1 in  
calling attention1 through its terms1 to
 the different parts of which the       

architecture of the body is composed4   
,those pedantic words1 biceps1 triceps1 
brachial or crural1 and so many others1 
those current words1 arms1 legs1        
plastically have no significance4 ,in   
the synthesis of the work of art1 the   
arms1 the legs1 count only when they    
meet in accordance with the planes that 
associate them in a same effect1 and it 
is thus in nature1 who cares not for our
 analytical descriptions4 ,the great    
artists proceed as nature composes and  
not as anatomy decrees4 ,they never     
sculpture any muscle1 any nerve1 any    
bone for itself2 it is the whole at     
which they aim1 and which they express2 
it is by large planes that their work   
vibrates in the light or enters into the
 shadow4   ,thus from the point whence  
,i am looking at the ,venus of ,melos1  
all of the three-quarter profile is     
streaming with light1 while the opposite
 side bathes in the shadow4 ,toward the 
base of this profile one just           
distinguishes half-tones4 ,higher up1   

farther away1 the head rises and reigns1
 modelled by light and shade1 while the 
reposing lines1 the sloping lines of the
 back play together their slow melodies4
 ,what condescendence the long gentle   
lines of that back express1 and the     
flight of the loins into the half-tone6 
,sublime pride of marble6 ,tranquil life
 of the soul of the body6 ,nature is an 
uninterrupted harmony4  ,consider the   
,venus from any profile you choose4     
,that we were just admiring is of a     
beauty that invokes1 that imposes the   
idea of the eternal4 ,but change your   
position2 here is another profile3 it is
 equally marked with the seal of the    
imperishable4 ,all of them incite       
admiration and tenderness4 ,they are    
happy1 at ease in the calm air4  ,that  
face has the variety and the liberty of 
a flower1 and the artist1 leaning       
attentively over it1 rises as one vowed 
to religion3 he has heard ,venus speak4 
,i will walk round her4444 ,here is     
another profile that shows me the face4 

,there is shadow in that mouth2 a moment
 ago there was none2 to drawing is added
 modelling1 and the lines that hesitated
 have become decided4 ,the edge of the  
lips is slightly rimmed1 the edge of the
 nostrils also2 these are the signs of  
youth4 ,the mouth has in it the drawing 
of the school1 but it is on the plane of
 a master4 ,the error would be to seek  
the measurement of the lips4 ,it is all 
in the plane of the head1 of the cheek4 
,that cheek1 which appears to me lost in
 profile1 that cheek is all of          
sculpture1 as one virtue is every       
virtue4--,o mouth so simple1 so natural1
 so generous6 ,it holds thousands of    
kisses6 ,impossible to escape its charm4
 ,even the most ignorant visitor is     
touched by it4 ,how clearly one sees    
that the woman has posed for the        
divinity6  ,the soul of shapes breathes 
in the profound life of this thrilling  
body4 ,i see her magnificent armature of
 bones as ,i see her thoughts--all her  
grace hidden and present1 how powerfully

 organized6 ,in this form sweet as      
honey1 where the eye surprises neither  
blacks nor violent lights1 but where    
life flows without jerks or starts1     
clear as live water1 one feels keenly   
the resistance of a resolute and        
powerful frame6 ,supported by these     
bases that will not weaken1 sure of     
their solidity1 the flesh bounds with   
joy as if it would escape the redoubled 
shadows deepening under the breasts1    
that they may rise from the torso1      
whence glowing light would seem to      
emanate4  ,and the high adorable face   
gives to every one gracious welcome of  
life4  ,the shadows1 the divine play of 
shadows on antique marbles6 ,one might  
say that shadows love masterpieces4     
,they hang upon them1 they make for them
 adornment4 ,i find only among the      
,gothics and with ,rembrandt such       
orchestras of shadows4 ,they surround   
beauty with mystery2 they pour peace    
over us1 and allow us to hear without   
trouble that eloquence of the flesh that

 ripens and amplifies the spirit4 ,that 
eloquence darts on us the truth1 diffuse
 as light4 ,it is the radiancy of       
gladness4 ,what secret emotion invades  
me before the meditated grace of this   
design6 ,ineffable passages of light    
into shadow6 ,inexpressible splendours  
of half tones6 ,nests of love6 ,what    
marvels that have not yet a name in this
 sacred body6 ,venus ,genetrix6 ,venus  
,victorum6 ,o1 total glory of grace and 
of genius6  ,illustration  ,admiration  
overtakes me like sleep4   ,the ,venus  
of ,melos is reflected by all the       
others3 in them is accentuated one or   
another of her infinite beauties4  ,in  
this one1 free of all draperies1 the    
modelling of the shadows makes the flesh
 breathe even more voluptuously2 that   
thigh1 column of life1 is literally     
quivering4  ,in this other1 the light   
and shade of the belly and of the legs  
produce a kind of fluctuation where     
passes all of love2 all its intoxication
 and then its appeasement4 ,the upper   

part of the body inclines in a gesture  
of reverence2 movement how gracious6    
,where the ,gothic and the ,renaissance 
find their symbol4  ,and again this one1
 what instinct bends it into an arc of  
grace6 ,a single curve made of all      
those1 of the shoulders1 of the legs1 of
 the thighs1 designs the kneeling       
,venus4   ,i possess a little           
masterpiece1 which long baffled all the 
habits of my eyes and of my mind1 all my
 understanding4 ,i have vowed to it deep
 gratitude1 for it has made me think a  
great deal4  ,this figure belongs to the
 epoch of the ,venus of ,melos4 ,it     
gives me the same sensation of          
modelling1 powerful and abundant2 it has
 the same ease in the grandeur of its   
forms1 although they are materially of  
reduced proportions4 ,what calm         
intoxication it breathes and inspires1  
or1 rather1 what luxury of pleasure6    
,the beautiful shadows that caress it   
have all the same direction1 turn all in
 the same sense4 ,with what science1    

with what wisdom they cause the breasts 
to jut1 and then1 slumbering on the wide
 belly1 vigorously model the thighs6    
,one of the arms at the side is drawn   
back and drowned in delicate light and  
shade4 ,the gesture of the other arm    
holds the draperies over the thighs to  
gather below the belly fervent shadow4  
,shadow1 desired by the artist1 makes   
for all this figure a first tunic1      
veiling certain shapes and discovering  
others of them4 ,looking closely1 one   
sees that all these varied tones are    
underscored by a single dark line1 the  
line of strength4  ,it is the principle 
of beautiful sculpture as of beautiful  
architecture4 ,the expression of life1  
in order to keep the infinite suppleness
 of reality1 must never be stopped or   
fixed4 ,the dark element1 essential to  
the effect1 must then be carefully      
contrived4  ,one observes that the      
antique masterpieces have all been      
treated in this way4 ,that is why they  
produce the impression of sweet measure 

and of durability4  ,badly proportioned 
the results are truly blasphemies       
against nature4 ,they no longer have    
eloquence1 and breed only harshness and 
meagreness4 ,from a distance1 moreover1 
measure yields the most powerful        
results4 ,the ,venus of ,melos in       
particular owes to this moderation her  
power of effect4 ,there is nothing      
abrupt4 ,approaching her step by step1  
one imagines that she has been gradually
 modelled by the continuous effort of   
the sea4  ,is this not what the         
,ancients wished to say in affirming    
that ,aphrodite was born of the womb of 
the waters8                             
----------------------------------------
--------------------------------        
,,transcriber',s ,,notes    #a4         
,retained anachronistic1 non-standard1  
and uncertain spellings as              
printed4