- Wealthy landowner Mr. De Peyhorrade uncovers a bronze statue of Venus on his property. Afterwards, De Peyhorrade asks an antique expert, named Matthew, from another village to examine the statue and confirm its wealth. Upon arrival, Matthew is striken with love by Clara, Mr. De Peyhorrade's daughter-in-law, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the statue.—Anonymous
- In 1800s Europe, Mr. De Peyhorrade (Mario Maranzana) discovers a large, bronze statue of Venus on his estate. Taking its discovery as a sign of good luck for the impending marriage of his son, Alfonso, (Fausto Di Bell), De Peyhorrade orders it to be uncovered and displayed in the garden for all to see. In the process of doing this, one of the workers is badly injured when the statue falls on him, crushing his leg.
From the very start of this, the townspeople believe the statue to be cursed, but De Peyhorrade is proud of his discovery, and sends for Matthew (Marc Porel), an authority on antiques. Matthew is similarly impressed with the statue which seems to exert a strange fascination over him. But before he can search the area for artifacts, De Peyhorrade implores him to stat at the house as his guest until the wedding is out of the way. Matthew agrees and spends most the time in the garden trying to capture the statues eerie beauty in a series of drawings.
After Matthew meets with Alfonso De Peyhorrade for the first time, both men take an instant dislike to each other. Things become more awkward for Matthew when he is introduced to Alfredo's bride-to-be Clara (Daria Nicolodi). Matthew is particularly struck her strong resembles to the stature, but reject her request to paint a portrait of her. Clara is impressed by Matthew thoughtfulness and sensitivity, but professes to prefer Alfonos easy charm.
On the day of the wedding, Alfonso joins a game of tennis with some friends. Renowned in the village as the best tennis player in Ille, Alfonso is aggravated by Clara's wedding ring, which is he wearing on his hand for safekeeping. When it costs him a shot, he removes it and places it on the statue Venus finger. De Peyhorrade breaks up the tennis game and rushes Alfonso to the church, accidentally leaving the ring behind. During the ceremony, Alfonso substitute another ring, a gift from one of his earlier 'conquests' in place of the old one.
Afterwards, during the reception, De Peyhorrade drunkenly rambles on about the black Venus (the statue) and the white one (Clara), stating that Alfonso did well to select the latter for his bride. Amid all this merriment, only Matthew and Clara seem to be uncomfortable. Suddenly, Alfonso appears and takes Matthew aside. He swears to Matthew that when he tried to remove the ring from the statue's finger, it grabbed hold of his hand and pushed him away. Though skeptic, Matthew agrees to take a look.
As he makes his way towards the garden, Clara appears. She perceives his infatuation with her and they kiss. But at this point, its revealed that 'Clara' is really the animated statue of Venus, whose identity is betrayed by the ring Alfonso has earlier put on her finger. Matthew fails to notice the ring, however, and becomes lost in the beauty of the moment. When Matthew tells 'Clara' why he is in the garden, she becomes cold and unemotional. When Matthew hears sounds of approaching footsteps, he turns to face people walking by, and when he turns back around, 'Clara' has disappeared. Abandoning his mission to look for the ring on the statue, Matthew returns to the party and finds the real Clara talking with some of the other guests. Matthew retires to his bedroom to work on his sketches.
Clara is prepared by her servants for her wedding night. She then waits in bed for Alfonso, whos still drinking with his friends, oblivious to his wifes needs. But from a point-of-view shot, something makes its way towards the house. It is the reanimated statue of Venus, slowly, but surely approaching the bridal chamber. Clara, sitting in the dark, thinks it's her husband, and calls out to him, but there is no reply. When she sees the apparition before her, Clara goes into shock and recoils in a corner. The statue takes her place in the bed, and when Alfonso climbs in, he is crushed to death by the statue's metal embrace.
The next morning, Matthew awakes to the sounds of screaming. He runs into the bridal chamber to see De Peyhorrade and his wife having discovered the sons crushed and mutilated body, still lying in the bed. In the corner of the room, sits the traumatized Clara, who seems destined to be cationic, never to recover. De Peyhorrade runs outside to find the bronze statue of Venus still in it's normal place in the garden. De Peyhorrade finally realizes the awful truth, and has the statue melted down and made into a bell.
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