The Venus de Medici claims direct descent from the Venus of Cnidus,
and preserves some of the sweet unconsciousness which must have been
the special charm of the original. It belongs to the Græco-Roman
period of sculpture and was executed by Cleomenes. It was found in the
ruins of Portico Octavio, passed at once into the possession of the
Medici family, and is now in the Tribuna of the Uffizi, Florence. Its
“divinity has vanished; the beautiful humanity alone remains.”
[Illustration]
Hercules and Lichas.
“_And Lichas from the top of Œta threw
Into the Euboic sea._”
--MILTON.