Paris, Winged Victory

The statue, now known as Winged Victory, stands at the head of the great staircase leading to the upper galleries of The Louvre in Paris. In 1863 the French consul at Adrianople found 118 fragments of marble on the Greek island of Samothrace, overlooking the Aegean sea. The fragments were sent to Paris, reconstructed at the Louvre, and is now one of the most famous statues ever found. It’s funny that the fragments were all parts of the body, no head was ever found.

It is thought the statue honored warriors who fought a naval battle in about 200 B.C., but no reference even hazards a guess as to the date it was carved. An amazing feat of artistry, whatever the year, or should that be, whatever the century.