PamInserra WingedVictoryofSamothrace:Goddess/Woman October5,2008 GARTH205 VickiFama JMUHONORCODE:___________________________________
Ancient Greek art is the genre for some of the worlds most unique and influential pieces of history. The Greek artists worked to display sophistication and beauty in their creations, which was applied in the detailed sculptures of the human body. Particularly during the Hellenistic Period, lasting from the late 4th century to the 1st century BCE, sculptures were designed to show the flexibility and anatomy of the human form.1 Around 200 BCE, the Winged Victory of Samothrace was sculpted. This piece broke away from typical Greek art, in that it displayed a deep connection of drapery and the human body, as well as elegance and intensity in the elaborately detailed wings. Standing at about 3.28 meters, the winged Victory of Samothrace is located at the Louvre, in Paris, France. It was carved out of semitransparent Parian marble.2 The figure is supposed to represent Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. This goddess was important because of the Romans constant attempt at reaching the highest level of intellect, domination, and believing they had conquered barbarianism.3 The white-colored stone makes the delicate physique of the woman more noticeable, and captures the light in a unique fashion. The extensive detail in both the drapery and actual silhouette implies the sculpture took a lot of time. The lack of simplicity really goes to show the sculptor was trying to insure the goddess uniqueness and incomparability. The anatomy of Nike in this piece is particularly complex. Throughout the bottom half of the figure, there are very rough and bellowing edges, to imply that a large amount of fabric is draping the female. The fabric looks as though it is made of overlapping layers but is still made of a light and delicate material. This then creates shadows within the crevasses of the marble, 1ArtHistory:AncientArt 2http://www.artchive.com/artchive/G/greek/winged_victory.jpg.html 3http://www.loggia.com/myth/nike.html 2
which makes the intricacy and density of the sculpture seem much greater. The fabric is pointed outward in the back, and brushing between the center of Nikes legs. Even through the fabric, you can see that her right leg is placed in front of her left leg. These characteristics imply she is in moving forward. The essence of reality was particularly great in the Hellenistic period.
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Unlike typical movement in other ancient art periods, the Greek period artists believed
movement to be a gracious action. Because of this, her step is very subtle, but very prominent at the same time. The stomach and chest are left smoother than the legs and hips. In fact, it is as if there is no fabric on the abdomen and chest, being as how the navel and breasts are both entirely exposed. My personal belief as to why the statue was created with this inconsistent texture of the marble is because the Greeks wanted to amplify the femininity of the goddess. During the Greek period, the anatomy of the human was the primary focus in a sculpture. I believe that the artist of Winged Victory of Samothrace feared the physique would get lost in the cloth and the natural beauty and captivation of the womans limbs would go unnoticed. The element of movement is once again suggested in the positioning of the upper half of the body. Her chest and rib cage are not only pushed outward, but upward as well. This makes her back form a rather acute angle, demonstrating the potential of the human form. These qualities allude to the idea that the goddess is going to fly, creating a phantasmagoric scene. Traveling up the figure, you will notice the wings are made up of blade-like feathers and are hyper-extended from the goddess body. This is an interesting part of the figure because it almost changes how we view the sculpture as a whole. The actual body of the goddess resembles that of a normal female. It is until you reach the wings that you forget the creation is 4http://arthistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/three_periods_of_ancient_greek_art 3
of a supernatural being. I believed the shape of the wings also served to contradict the rest of the female body, in a way. Since the wings are very sharp and overwhelming, they have a very different intention than that of the female anatomy. This creates a dual purpose of the sculpture; the body demonstrates the goddess gentility and grace, while the wings represents the physical ability and power only a goddess of victory could hold. Clearly, the wings dominate the rest of the figure. I believe what sets Winged Victory of Samothrace apart from the rest of the god/goddess sculptures created during the Hellenistic period is its ability to capture the humanity and lifelikeness of a supernatural creature. At the same time, her importance and heroic ability is impossible to overlook.
