Winged Victory of Samothrace

This is the Winged Victory of Samothrace. For many, the greatest Hellenistic sculpture in existence. A French expedition found it in 1863, on the Greek island of Samothrace. It was carved around 200 BC, at the height of the Hellenistic period.

Why is it the greatest?

Because it concentrates everything that defines Hellenistic art: naturalness, realism, dynamism.

And the most impressive moment is right here — look at the fabric over the abdomen.

The fabric is wet, pressed against the body!

The silhouette showing through the fabric is so real, so precise, that today no sculptor, no matter how skilled, could reproduce this. That level of detail in marble is almost impossible to imagine.

Now, the name. In Greek it's Nike. In Latin, Victoria.

And yes — the sneaker brand Nike comes directly from her name.

Back then, the most important victory was victory in war.

And living in Greece, surrounded by sea, battles were fought at sea.

So the Greeks placed Nike figures on the prow of their ships to ask for victory before battle.

On ancient coins you can see her blowing a trumpet from the prow.

But this particular Nike wasn't for a ship.

It was for a temple.

How do we know? Because they didn't find it on the coast — they found it on a mountain, where the sanctuary of the great gods stood.

And it wasn't in one piece. It appeared broken into more than a hundred fragments.

They collected them all, put them together, and slowly it took this shape.

The head and arms never appeared.

The wings weren't complete either — only one was found.

So they made a copy of the original and placed it on the opposite side.

Come close to the wings and look. Which do you think is the real one and which is the copy?

Looking from the front, the one on the left side is the copy — it's made of plaster!

The one on the right is the original — it's marble.

The difference in color gives it away. The copy is whiter.

This sculpture has always been a source of inspiration for many people.

The Nike logo carries her shape. The Honda logo has her wings too.

And the scene in Titanic on the bow of the ship — with the two main characters and arms outstretched — is directly inspired by this figure.

Take all the photos you want. When you're ready, we go see the paintings.