Description

The Victory of Samothrace is a marble sculpture of an unknown artist of the Hellenistic era that was found in the sanctuary of the Great Gods in Samothrace and represents the winged Goddess Nike. The sculpture has been on display at the Louvre Museum since 1884. It is one of the three winged Victories found in the Temple of Samothrace. The statue is 3.28 m high (with wings) and 5.58 m with the marble bow of the ship on which it is placed today. It was made to honor the goddess Niki but also a naval battle, it is not certain which one. It was dedicated to a temple in Samothrace and dates between 220 and 190 BC with most estimates converging to 190 BC. Today in the Louvre Museum it is placed on a base and it in turn is fixed to a marble bow of a ship. In antiquity it is speculated that the one who dedicated the work to the temple of Samothrace (a place famous in antiquity for its sanctity) had ordered the design of a small complex of goddess and ship. From the Greek side, various moves and efforts have been made for the return of the Victory of Samothrace to Greece, but this was not possible.