Long-Lost Diana of Versailles Statue Sank with the Titanic–But Was Just Found on the Ocean Floor
A two-foot-tall bronze statue of the Greek goddess Diana that once adorned the fireplace mantle onboard the Titanic was found during a recent expedition.
Described as like finding “a needle in a haystack,” it was one of a variety of fine art pieces that have for years been the targets of maritime archaeologists working to recover the ship’s relics.
The RMS Titanic will likely never stop fascinating people. The ‘unsinkable’ luxury liner that carried the high society of England over to the US on its tragic first voyage was, as Art Net recently described, “a a floating gallery of fine art and design.”
Photographs and written sources from the ship show how it was filled with art, from a 1912 Renault luxury automobile to this bronze statue known as the Diana of Versailles.
Cast based on an original piece kept in the Louvre from the Versailles Palace, it’s known to have been placed atop a fireplace mantle from a photograph taken onboard the ship.
The Georgia company RMS Titanic which conducts expeditions to document, monitor, and recover the relics of the ship recently finished an unmanned expedition to the site in the North Sea where the ship went down. There, half-buried in the mud, they found the goddess without a speck of green to be seen on her flowing gown.
“It’s truly a needle in a haystack that is two-and-a-half miles underwater in pitch black darkness,” James Penca, a researcher at the company told National Public Radio, adding that “we found her with just hours remaining in the expedition.”
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“There were a lot of tears in the room for a lot of us,” said Penca, “even the people who’ve been there before.”
She’s depicted wielding a club over her right shoulder, with a rampant stag standing against her left leg.
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While RMS Titanic leaves some pieces in situ, others they attempt to collect through expeditions, and the Diana of Versailles will certainly top the list when the company gets around to going back.
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