In its present
condition, the "Venus de Milo" is not the statue of an armless woman,
but a statue of part of a whole woman.
A statue is not sufficiently unified by representing a single individual
or several individuals united by some common interest or by
participation in some common action; the unity in the object should
be expressed through a unity in the material of representation. The
finest taste requires that every statue should be made of only one
kind of material. One part, say the body, should not be of marble, and
another part, say the girdle, of gold or bronze. Such a combination
of materials gives the impression of two things juxtaposed, not of a
single whole. If in defense of this one were to say that through the
difference of materials real differences in the object are portrayed,
consistency would require that the principle be carried out, that the
hair be of another material, and the eyes of still a third, with the
result of making the statue a sheer agglomerate. And when more than
one individual is represented, even a unity of material is not
sufficient; it is necessary, in addition, that the several figures in
the group be in contact with each Other. It is not enough that they
stand on the same plate; for the real empty space that we see between
them will keep them apart. The ideal space to which they belong, and
the spiritual or dramatic oneness, should be mediated by a material
touch of hands or other parts of the body. Compare, in this connection,
Rodin's "Citizens of Calais" where this principle is violated, with
the three figures from the summit of his "Hell Gate," where it is
observed.
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