GREEK NIKE.WINGED VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE STATUE.FIGURINE

Nike of Samothrace or Winged Victory, a Greek statue from about 200 bc, portraying Nike, the personification of victory. The fragments of the larger-than-life-size sculpture were discovered on Samothráki (Samothrace), an island in the northern Aegean Sea in 1863. Pieced together, but still headless and armless, Nike of Samothrace is now prominently displayed in a place of honor in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. In 1950 an archaeological expedition discovered what may be the statue's right hand.

The marble statue, probably commissioned to commemorate a Greek naval victory, is a winged female figure who has apparently just descended from the sky onto the prow of a ship, her strong wings still beating. Parts of the prow have been found and were reconstructed with the statue. Nike is an impressive and powerful figure. Her body is twisted on its axis, emphasizing motion. The wind sweeps the thin dress and thick cloak against her strongly built body and legs; the deep folds in the material further emphasize turbulent action.The realistic and dramatic approach of the sculptor to his subject makes Nike of Samothrace one of the finest examples of the sculpture of the Hellenistic period, which followed the Classic period of Greek sculpture. The sculptor's name is unknown, but an inscription contains the word Rhodios, probably indicating that he came from the island of Rhodes in the eastern Aegean.