She will have known the most prestigious settings.
Discovered in the ruins of the ancient theater, it experienced the splendor of Versailles before being exhibited in the Louvre.
The
Venus of Arles
is today claimed by the municipality, which asks the State for "
a friendly and cultural gesture
" towards the territories.
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The mayor (various center) Patrick de Carolis and the LREM deputy Monica Michel are calling for the return "
to her native lands
" of the sculpture representing the goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite.
"
We would be grateful if you would study the possibility that the Louvre museum could deposit this work in the city where it was born
", asked the elected officials in a letter addressed to the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot .
"
It would be a good example of the priority given to the territories that the government wants to act on, but also a formidable cultural asset for the influence of Arles
", they argue.
Copies of the
Louvre
Venus
are on display at the Arles Antiquities Museum.
FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP
Arles is known for its many Roman remains, from the ancient theater to the arenas and the thermal baths of the Emperor Constantine.
Discovered in 1651 in the ruins of the ancient theater, the statue of Venus had been given to Louis XIV by the city councilors anxious to attract the good graces of the Sun King who had installed it in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles.
It will remain there until 1798 then will be transferred to the Louvre collections.
“
The idea is not to reclaim this statue which has not been stolen.
But I think that next year, when Arles will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the inscription of eight of its historic monuments as World Heritage by Unesco, it would be good for the State to make a gesture by saying: “We don't It will not be returned to you, but we will leave it for you in deposit, ”
Patrick de Carolis told AFP.
The former journalist, ex-president of France Télévisions, has just been appointed by the association of mayors of France to sit on the High Council of Museums of France.
"
I know what the attachment of a museum director to a work is,
" explains Patrick de Carolis, born in Arles, who was also director of the Marmottan-Monet museum.
"
But if we start from the principle that it is a deposit inscribed in time, it is a friendly, cultural and recognition gesture
", he argues.
At the Louvre, depository of the work, and at the Ministry of Culture, which oversees the Parisian museum, to now decide on the future of the Venus.
As for the Arlésiens, they are already familiar with this work, which returned once to their city in 2013 on the occasion of an exhibition and whose replicas are enthroned at the town hall and at the Arles antique museum, the one that would serve as a setting for sculpture. original if the State agreed to entrust it to him.
