Editing Venus de Milo (section)

===Reconstructions===
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| footer = Many reconstructions of the ''Venus de Milo''{{'}}s original pose have been suggested.  Adolf Furtwängler's suggestion (left) of Venus holding the apple is widely accepted.  Marianne Hamiaux has argued that the figure originally held a shield, like the Perge Aphrodite (right).
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Without arms, it is unclear what the statue originally looked like. The original appearance of the Venus has been disputed since 1821, with de Clarac arguing that the Venus was a single figure holding an apple, whereas Quatremere held that she was part of a group, with her arms around another figure.{{sfn|Martinez|2022|p=46}}  Other proposed restorations have included the Venus holding wreaths, a dove, or spears.{{sfn|Suhr|1960|p=259}}

[[Wilhelm Fröhner]] suggested in 1876 that the ''Venus de Milo''<nowiki/>'s right hand held the drapery slipping down from her hips, while the left held an apple; this theory was expanded on by Furtwängler.{{sfn|Maggidis|1998|p=182}}  Kousser considers this the "most plausible" reconstruction.{{sfn|Kousser|2005|p=235}} Scientific analyses conducted during restoration of the Venus in 2010 supported the theory that the  arm fragment and hand holding the apple found alongside the sculpture were originally part of the Venus; Martinez argues that the identification of the sculpture as Venus holding an apple is thus definitively proved.{{sfn|Martinez|2022|pp=85–87}}

Hamiaux suggests that the ''Venus de Milo'' is of the same sculptural type as the [[Capuan Venus]] and another sculpture of Aphrodite from Perge.  She argues that all derive from the cult statue in the temple of Aphrodite on the [[Acrocorinth]], which depicted Aphrodite admiring herself in a shield.{{sfn|Hamiaux|2017|p=65}}  Christine Mitchell Havelock, who believes the Capuan Venus was based on the ''Venus de Milo'', by contrast considers the Melian sculpture "a fresh invention" of the Hellenistic period.{{sfn|Havelock|1995|p=98}}