The undraped statue of Praxiteles (4 syl.) purchased by the
ancient Cnidians, who refused to part with it, although Nicomedes, King
of Bithynia, offered to pay off their national debt as a price for it.
The statue was subsequently removed to Constantinople, and perished in
the great fire during the reign of Justinian, (A.D. 80.)
Praxiteles made also a draped statue of the same goddess,
called the “Venus of Cos.”
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
