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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 (Greek) by the French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau. The statue is now displayed in the Louvre in Paris while a plaster replica stands in the museum at the original location of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothraki.
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 (presumably Rhodian in origin), 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). Certainly, the parallels with figures and drapery from the Pergamon Altar (dated about 170 BC) seem strong. 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 earliest.
Originally located outside, in a niche in an open air amphitheatre, the sculpture probably served as an altar, within view of the preserved ship of Demetrius I Poliorcetes and its elaborate protective building. The statue stands on the prow of a ship, representing the goddess as she descended from the skies to the triumphant fleet. Rendered in white Parian marble, the larger than life-sized figure (height 3.28 m / 10.7 ft, including the wings) originally formed part of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. Before losing her arms the Nike was probably blowing a victory paean on a trumpet.

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