Original Venus returns to Schaffhausen, reviving authenticity debate

The original Venus of Schweizersbild has returned to Schaffhausen after more than 60 years in Basel, SRF reports. The nearly three-centimetre Stone Age figurine had been represented by a copy at the Museum zu Allerheiligen, a museum in Schaffhausen, during that time.

Carved around 14,000 years ago from jet, a black, shiny rock formed from fossilised wood, the figurine is considered one of the oldest human figures found in Switzerland. The original will now be kept at the Museum zu Allerheiligen.

The handover was attended by Basel Government President Kaspar Sutter and Schaffhausen Government President Cornelia Stamm Hurter, among others. The valuable original was transported in a small plastic box.

The return has also raised a broader question: why do people value an original more than a perfect copy? Valentin Groebner, a historian and professor at the University of Lucerne, says museums give objects special significance by preserving and displaying them as exceptional items.

“Museums function through scarcity. Reproduction creates abundance. The museum manages scarcity as authenticity,” Groebner says. The Venus is displayed in a case, illuminated and explained, further reinforcing its special status.

Although countless copies can be made, only one figurine was carved around 14,000 years ago. Groebner says a copy lacks “the element of touch”. It shows the same object but does not carry the same history.

The same pattern can be seen with the Mona Lisa. Millions of people know the painting from photographs or the internet, yet many still travel to the Louvre to see the original.

Switzerland has seen similar debates. After years of negotiations, the original St Gall Globe returned to St Gallen in 2006, while a copy remained at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. The location of original manuscripts from the St Gall monastery has also been debated, even though their contents were already well known.