The Winged Victory Of Samothrace
by Maria Angelica Maira
Title
The Winged Victory Of Samothrace
Artist
Maria Angelica Maira
Medium
Photograph - Photography - Digital Art - Fine Art Photography
Description
The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called Nike of Samothrace, is a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory). It was discovered in April 1863 on the island of Samothrace by the French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau. The statue was sent to Paris the same year, and since 1884 has dominated the Daru staircase displayed in the Louvre. Simultaneously a plaster replica stands in the museum at the original location of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace.
The Victory is one of the great surviving masterpieces of sculpture from the Hellenistic period, despite the fact that the figure is significantly damaged, missing its head and outstretched arms. By an unknown artist, (presumably Rhodian in origin), the sculpture is thought to date from the period 220 to 190 BC. Champoiseau, when he first published the Victory considered that it was erected by the Macedonian general Demetrius I Poliorcetes after his naval victory at Cyprus between 295 and 289 BC, and the Samothrace Archaeological Museum continues to follow Champoiseau's provenance and dates.[3] Ceramic evidence discovered in recent excavations has revealed that the pedestal was set up about 200 BC, though some scholars still date it as early as 250 BC or as late as 180.[4] Certainly, the parallels with figures and drapery from the Pergamon Altar (dated about 170 BC) seem strong.
A partial inscription on the base of the statue includes the word "Rhodhios" (Rhodes), indicating that the statue was commissioned to celebrate a naval victory by Rhodes, at that time the most powerful maritime state in the Aegean. This would date the statue to 288 BC at the earliest.
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July 21st, 2014
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