Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/87

VENUSBERG. Vcnusberg known to literature is Heinrich von Limbing in the already named Low German chronicle (about 1337) ; the most famous is Tannhauser (q.v. ). VENUS CLAM (so called in allusion to the shape of the closed lunule). Any liivalve of the family Venerida-, which consists of heavy, glo- bose pelecypods, represented on all shores, and often beautifully colored and corrugated. The American 'hard clam' {Venus vicrri'iuirid) (see Colored Plate of Clams) is a typical example. Some, when viewed in section, present an outline like that of the ace of hearts, and are called 'heart-cockles.' VENUS OF MEDICI. A celebrated statue in the Tribuna of the Uffizi (Florence), by Kleomenes, son of xVpollodorus of Athens, a sculptor of the New Attic school, who probably lived in the time of Augustus. It represents the Greek goddess Aphrodite, entirely nude, as she arises from the foam of the sea. Botli the face and form are of great youthful charm and beauty; but the motive is that of a maiden con- scious of her charms almost to affectation. The hair was formerl.y gilded and the eyes were blue. The fine effect of the original is much impaired by the injudicious polishing of the marble's sur- face, and liy a wretched modern restoration of the arms and hand. The statue is a free copy of .some famous original — derived in turn from the celebrated Cnidian Aphrodite of Praxiteles (q.v.). It was found at Rome in the sixteenth century and brought to Florence from tlic Vilhi Medici in IfiTS. During the transportation it was broken into eleven fragments, which, how- ever, were perfectly fastened together. VENUS OF MILO. The most celebrated and beautiful of surviving statues of the Greek god- dess Aphrodite, and perhaps the most priceless treasure of the Louvre. It is named from the isle of Melos, in the ^-Egean Sea, where it was found by accident in 1820. Xear it was dis- covered the piece of an upper left arm, probably belonging to the statue, a hand with an apple, of inferior workmanship, and an inscription with the artist's name, now lost. The statue was purchased by the Marquis de Riviere, French ambassador to Constantinople, and presented to Louis XVIIL, who gave it to the Louvre. It has suffered much from time and rough treat- ment. Both arms are gone, and the body, which is nude to the waist, and the draperies, are much battered. But so chaste and noble is the ideal and so wonderful the technical execution, that the effect is incomparable to anything else in art. She is at the same time a woman of inde- scribable youth and beauty and the majestic in- carnation of all-powerful love. The position of the goddess and the date of the origin of the statue are matters of dispute. The most likely explanation seems to be Furt- wnngler's that the advanced left foot rested upon a, helmet and the goddess regarded herself in a shield supported on the left thigh. The statue was formerly ascribed to the age of Praxiteles, hut the prevailing opinion now is that it belongs to the Hellenistic period, to the last half of the second or to the first century B.C. The sculptor has changed the type of the Aphrodite by Scopas to resemble the Melian Tyche. but under direct inspiration of the Phidian epoch. Numerous 61 VERA. monographs and articles have been written on the subject: but the best discussion is by Furt- wangler, .lt:inUrii-rrkt: der yriechischen I'laslik (Leipzig-Berlin, 181)3; Eng. trans., New York, 189.5). VENUS'S COMB. Sec fMi:iivir.. VENUS'S FLOWER-BASKET. Any of various vitrecjus spiiirg<'s, which iiave a more or less fenestrated atid urn-shaped form; especially one of tlic Oriental geims Euplectella. VENUS'S GIRDLE. See G IKULK-OF- Vkn us. VENUS'S LOOKING- GLASS (SiMTuliiria). A small genus of low annual herbs belonging to the order Campanulace;c. The best known species, the common Venus's looking-glass (Spec- ularia sprcKlum). is a na- tive of Europe and has long been a favorite in flower- gardens on account of its brilliant purple or white blossoms, f^pccularia perfo- Unta, a native of North America, occurs as a weed on sterile and sandy ground, and is also cultivated. It produces imrple-blue flowers from May to August. Speeu- larias thrive in any garden soil and are readily propa- gated by seeds sown in the spring. They often repro- duce themselves from self-sown seeds. VEPRES SICILIENNES, vi'pr' se'seTyen', Les (Fr., Tlic Sicilian Vespers). (1) An opera by Verdi. Its first representation was in Paris in 185.5 and was not wholly successful. It was produced in London four years later, under the title of / Vespri Siciliani. (2) The first play of Casimir Delavigne, a comedy, originally re- fused by the Theatre Frangais. and later per- formed at the Odeon, in 1819, with great success. VERA, va'ra, Augusto (1813-85). An Ital- ian philosopher, born at Amelia, in ITmbria. He studied at first in Rome and then in Paris, where he devoted himself to philosophy. Afterwards he taught literature and filled various professor- ships of philosophy, notably at Strassburg and Paris. In 1860 he received a professorship of philosophy in Milan, and the next year a simi- lar post in Naples. He published several philo- sophical works in French, Italian, and English, and some translations from Hegel, whose philos- o])hy he introduced into France and'Italv. These include: Prohlrnie de la certitude (18-15): Pla- tonis: Aristoti-Us ef Urfidii dr }trdio Trrmiiio Doctrina (1845) : Introduction u In philosophic de Eegel (Paris, 1855) : Philosophic de la nature de Hegel (3 vols., 18fi3-(!5) : Philosophic de I'esprit de Eeqel (2 vols., 1867-69); Problcmc deir iissolulo (Naples, 4 parts, 1872-82) ; Strauss et I'ancicnnc ef la nourelle foi (1873); Cavour et I'eglise libre dans l'6tat libre (1874) ; An In- troduction to Speculative Philosophy 'and Logic (1875); Platone e V immortalita delV anima (1881) ; and Saygi filosofici (1885). VENltS'S LOOKING-GLASS iSpecularia p&rfoli- ata).