" " The Venus de Milo is perennially one of the hottest attractions at the Louvre Musuem in Paris, France. Todd Gipstein/Getty Images She's one of the most recognizable figures in the art world, but shrouded in mystery. Ever since Louis XVIII donated her to the Louvre in 1821, she's captured the attention and praise of audiences and historians, but many are still baffled by her origins — who is Venus de Milo, and what exactly happened to her arms? The half-naked marble goddess many of us know as Venus de Milo actually likely represents two figures who are notVenus, the Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty and fertility. The statue is thought to represent either Aphrodite, Venus's Greek counterpart, or Amphitrite, the goddess-queen of the sea and wife of Poseidon. But when the statue was discovered in 1820 on the Greek island of Melos (Milos in modern Greek) and presented to Louis (who in turn donated her to the Louvre), no one was quite sure what to make of her.