Climb the Daru staircase in the Louvre's Denon wing and look up. She is waiting at the top, wings spread, leaning into a wind that stopped blowing more than 2,000 years ago. No head, no arms, and still the most dramatic entrance in Paris. Can you feel the breeze? Most people do.
What is the Winged Victory of Samothrace?
She is Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, carved in white marble from the island of Paros. She lands on the prow of a warship made of grey marble from Rhodes. The Louvre dates her to around 190 BC. Statue and ship together stand about 5.5 metres tall. Try fitting that in your carry-on.
She was made as an offering for the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace, a small island in the northern Aegean Sea. She stood high on a hillside terrace, so pilgrims and sailors could see her from far away.
So what was she celebrating? According to the Louvre, the sailors of this ship had just won a sea battle, and someone, perhaps the people of Rhodes, thanked the gods in marble. Which battle, exactly? Nobody knows for sure. The inscription that would tell us has never been found, and historians still argue about it.
Who found her, and how did she get to Paris?
In 1863 Charles Champoiseau, a French diplomat and amateur archaeologist, was digging on Samothrace when he found her body in pieces. He shipped the marble fragments to the Louvre. What he did not realise was that the big grey blocks lying nearby were her ship.
He went back in 1879 to collect them. The museum's team then rebuilt the statue and her base, and in 1883 she was placed on the upper landing of the Daru staircase. Apart from a wartime trip, she has stood there ever since. When war broke out in 1939, she was carefully brought down the stairs and sent to the Château de Valençay in the countryside. She came home in 1945, undamaged.
Where is her head, and what about the hand?
Her head and arms have never been found. Champoiseau went back to look more than once, with no luck.
The story has a twist, though. In 1950 the French archaeologist Jean Charbonneaux found the palm of her right hand on Samothrace. An Austrian team had already found her thumb and part of a finger back in 1875. The pieces were finally reunited, and today the hand sits in a small showcase on the landing, close to the statue. Most visitors walk straight past it. Don't. A reunion that took 75 years deserves a look.
What should you look for when you see her?
Give yourself five minutes. Here is what I point out to guests:
- The "wet" dress: the thin fabric is pressed against her body by the wind and whipped back behind her legs, as if she has just landed on deck.
- Her right foot, stepping forward onto the ship as she arrives.
- The ship's prow under her feet: the grey stone is a different marble, from Rhodes, not the white marble of the statue.
- The wings: during a major restoration around the 150th anniversary of her discovery, experts found tiny traces of blue paint on them. She was once coloured, not plain white.
Then do one more thing. Go back to the foot of the staircase and climb it slowly. She grows and changes with every step. That is exactly why the Louvre put her there.
How do you find her in the Louvre?
The Winged Victory is in the Denon wing, Level 1, at the top of the Daru staircase (room 703). She sits on the main route toward the Italian paintings and the Mona Lisa, so she makes a natural first stop. Early morning is the calmest time to take photos on the steps.
The Louvre is in the middle of long renovation works, and rooms, routes and displays can change. Check the official website before you go.
See her with a guide
Standing in front of her is one thing. Hearing the story while you climb those steps is another. On our private Louvre tour, she is one of the first masterpieces we stop at, before the crowds build up further inside.
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