Winged Victory of Samothrace
The goddess of victory alights on the prow of a ship, the wind in her garment. The statue is a masterpiece of the Hellenistic period, when sculpture became dramatic and full of movement.
See how the thin, wet fabric both conceals and reveals the body beneath.
The statue was found in 1863 on the island of Samothrace in the northern Aegean. The French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau was digging in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods and found the torso in several pieces. He sent the finds to Paris. Later the stone blocks of the ship on which the goddess stands were also found. The statue is usually dated to around 190 BC, but the dating is debated. Champoiseau realised at once that he had found something unusual and sent the torso in pieces to the Louvre, where it was assembled.
Nike is the goddess of victory. She has just alighted on the prow of a warship, her wings spread out behind her. The wind presses the thin garment against her body and makes the fabric flutter in deep folds around her legs. She has lost her head and arms. The right hand was not found until 1950 and is shown in a display case nearby. Her body leans forward into the wind, and her weight rests on the right leg. The drapery still seems to be in motion, as if she were landing at that very moment.
The goddess is carved from Parian marble, while the ship is made of a grey marble that may come from Rhodes. The statue is just under three metres tall, and with the ship the monument is over five metres. The right side is less carefully worked than the left. This suggests that the statue was meant to be seen at an angle from the left. The parts of the body and wings were carved separately and joined. The right wing is largely a later plaster reconstruction, made as a mirror image of the left.
The statue was probably erected to commemorate a victory in a naval battle. Which victory it was, and who commissioned it, is unclear. The link to Rhodes, a great naval power, is a common but unproven theory. The monument stood in a niche in the sanctuary, high above a theatre-like slope.
The Winged Victory of Samothrace is one of the finest examples of Hellenistic art. Sculptors now sought movement, drama and strong emotional effects. The contrast between the powerful body and the transparent, wet fabric is a technical triumph.
Since the 1880s the statue has stood at the top of the Daru staircase in the Louvre, where she greets visitors from above. During the Second World War she was evacuated to a château in the countryside. In 2013–2014 the statue and the ship underwent a major restoration. Dirt was removed and later repairs were reviewed. The grey marble ship then regained a lighter tone.
The statue has become a symbol of victory and movement. It has inspired artists and designers. In 1909 the Futurist Marinetti wrote that a roaring car is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace. The figure lives on in everything from sports medals to brands.