Winged Victory is a statue of Nike, the goddess of victory in Greek mythology. The marble sculpture is 8 feet (2.4 meters) high. It probably commemorates a sea victory. The dramatic statue shows a winged female figure alighting on the prow of a ship, presumably to crown the ship’s commander. Her garments, wet with spray and blown by her flight, whip about her body.
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The statue was discovered in 1863 on the Greek island of Samothrace. It was probably dedicated at the sanctuary of the Great Gods about 190 B.C. In the sanctuary, the Winged Victory was placed above a pool of water to simulate the sea. It now stands in the Louvre in Paris.
