Title
Winged Victory of Samothrace or Nike of Samothrace
Date
220-190 B.C.
Medium
Marble
Location
Louvre Museum, Paris
Dimensions
Height 3.28 meters
Image size
400 x 611 pixels
File size
26.55 KB
Full size image
(2300 x 3515 pixels, 623.2 KB)
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In the depiction of angels, early Christian artists took inspiration from the Greco-Roman Victories, female winged deities who symbolized triumph and invincibility.
Though the early Christian angels were always male, they share attributes with the goddess Victory. Christians adopted her poses, her crown of laurel, and the medallions and palm branches with which she was often pictured.
The image above depicts one of the greatest masterpieces of the Hellenistic period, a marble sculpture representing the Greek goddess Nike (Victory).
The statue is now missing part of its wings, its head, and its arms. When she was complete she likely held a trumpet in one hand and a trophy in the other.
She stands on the prow of a ship and leans forward as if in a great wind, her drapery flows around her body and presses against it revealing her nudity beneath.
These winged deities of ancient Greece with their classical beauty continued to inspire artists into the Renaissance and contributed to the appearance of the more feminine angels of that time.
