Winged victory

The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Louvre Museum MUST SEE

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• published: 10 May 2015
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Visiting the Louvre Museum in Paris can be overwhelming and provoke a kind of sensory and intellectual overload if you attempt to take in too much. Visitors end up feeling overwhelmed or claustrophobic. On a first visit to the Louvre, many, if not most, people make a beeline to the Mona Lisa. This is perfectly understandable, but make sure not to overlook some of the less well-publicized treasures housed at the museum. One work of art that inspires awe, without question, is the Winged Victory of Samothrace; a beautiful ten foot work of art from the Hellenistic period of Greek culture. The Winged Victory of Samothrace, considered the finest Hellenistic Greek sculpture, portrays the goddess of victory alighting on a ship’s prow, with her wings spread and her clinging garments rippling in the wind. The broken sculpture was discovered on the Aegean island of Samothrace in 1863 and immediately sent to the Louvre Museum in Paris. It was discovered by Charles Champoiseau, French Vice-Consul to Adrianople (Turkey). The goddess of Victory (Nike, in Greek) is shown in the form of a winged woman standing on the prow of a ship, braced against the strong wind blowing through her garments. À Suivre