On April 8, 1820, on the island of Milos, a peasant named Yorgos Kentrotas stumbled upon a statue buried in the ground.

It would henceforth bear the name of the island where it was unearthed: the Venus de Milo.

A mutilated masterpiece dating from the 3rd or 1st century BC, it remains one of the great mysteries of ancient art, as famous as it is elusive.

Questions quickly arose: Is it truly the goddess Aphrodite? Did she hold the famous apple of Paris's judgment in one of her missing hands?

Some believe it to be Amphitrite, a sea goddess once worshipped on the island of Milos.

The statue was acquired shortly after its discovery by the Marquis de Rivière, French ambassador to Greece, and then presented to King Louis XVIII, who donated it to the Louvre Museum in 1821.

It is now displayed alone in a dedicated room of the museum, at the end of a series of galleries.