Fun with Maps ISSUE 2025-064

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (April 8, 2025) – In today’s edition of Fun with Maps, we dig up a little history on a famous statue.  

Happy re-discovery day to Venus de Milo.

A farmer digging in a field discovered the statue commonly referred to as Venus de Milo on April 8, 1820.

The interesting side note is that a French naval officer and amateur archaeologist was nearby and encouraged the farmer to unearth it fully.   What is a bit odd is that a French sailor would be on Milos island in the middle of the Aegean Sea when the island was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

Another Frenchman secured agreement from the French Ambassador in Constantinople to buy the statue from the farmer, and subsequently it did make its way to Paris where it currently resides in the Louvre Museum.

There is general agreement that the marble sculpture is from the 2nd century BC and is depicting the goddess of love – Greek Aphrodite with Venus being the Roman equivalent.

This Map of ancient Greece is by Teesdale from 1831.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.