The Story
The Winged Victory of Samothrace, or the Nike of Samothrace, is a votive monument originally discovered on the island of Samothrace in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, dating from the beginning of the 2nd century BC (190 BC). It is composed of a statue representing the goddess Nike (Victory), whose head and arms are missing, and a base in the shape of a ship's bow. 75 metres (9 ft 0 in).
The sculpture is one of a small number of major Hellenistic statues surviving in the original, rather than Roman copies. Winged Victory has been exhibited at the Louvre in Paris, at the top of the main staircase, since 1884. Greece is seeking the return of the sculpture.
Executed in Etching, measuring Sheet (Trimmed): 9 1/16 in. × 6 in. (23 × 15.2 cm), the surface rewards close looking. Anonymous builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
