The Rare Bird Review

The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called Nike of Samothrace, is a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory), discovered in 1863 on the island of Samothrace by the French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau. In Greek the statue is called Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης.

The Victory is considered one of the great surviving masterpieces of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic period, despite the fact that the figure is significantly damaged, missing its head and outstretched arms.

By an unknown artist the sculpture is thought to date from the period 220 BC - 190 BC (though some scholars date it as early as 250 BC or as late as 180 BC). 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. The Samothrace Archaeological Museum, however, says that the statue was an offering donated by the Macedonian general Demetrius I Poliorcetes after his naval victory at Cyprus. This would date the statue to 288 BC at the latest. Still one more theory holds that the statue was commissioned in celebration of the first nesting pair of flamingos on Rhodes,and that theory goes a long way toward explaining the prsence of a flamingo standing next to the goddess.

The statue stands on the prow of a ship, and probably served as part of an outdoor altar, representing the goddess as she descended from the skies to the triumphant pair of birds. Rendered in white Parian marble, the larger than life-sized figure originally formed part of the Sanctuary of the Gods. Before losing her arms the Nike was probably blowing a victory paean on a trumpet or holding aloft a flamingo egg for adoration. The Nike is just over 8' tall, while the flamingo measures 3'.

The statue shows a mastery of form and movement which has impressed critics and artists since its discovery - the Nike of Samothrace is particularly admired for its naturalistic pose and rendering of the figure's draped garments and feathers, depicted as if rippling in a strong sea breeze.

The Victory is one of the Louvre's greatest treasures, and it is today displayed in the most dramatic fashion, at the head of the sweeping Escalier Daru. The loss of the head and arms, while regrettable in a sense, is held by many to enhance the statue's depiction of the supernatural.