This magnificent sculpture commands attention on a landing leading to the Greek and Roman antiquities galleries in the Louvre.
This "NIke" (a winged goddess of Victory) originally stood on the prow of a ship sculpted i
n a niche that overlooked the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on the island of Samothrace.
She may have commemorated a naval victory in the early second century BC.
Her dramatic and theatrical pose and billowing drapery arae characteristic of the 2nd century Hellenistic period in Greek sculpture.