Winged Victory of Samothrace: An Angelic Disaster

The Winged Victory of Samothrace is a stunning marble sculpture that has been mesmerizing humans since its discovery in 1863. Despite its grandeur, the story behind how it came to be is anything but grand.

The tale goes that in ancient Greece, a group of sculptors was hired by a wealthy merchant to create a statue of the goddess Nike (Greek for “Victory”) to commemorate the Battle of Ephesus. The competition was fierce, with each sculptor trying to outdo the others in crafting the most lifelike representation of the goddess.

One sculptor in particular, Pythagoras (not the famous Greek philosopher), thought he had finally cracked the secret to winning. He had decided to give Nike a pair of wings to symbolize her speed and agility on the battlefield. However, his grand idea proved to be his downfall.

As Pythagoras was putting the finishing touches on his masterpiece, he accidentally knocked over a bottle of oil, causing his chisel to slip and slice off Nike’s head. In a panic, Pythagoras glued the head back on and called it a day.

The next morning, to Pythagoras’ horror, the dried glue had left a visible line on the statue’s neck where the head had been reattached. To make matters worse, the glue was failing, and Nike’s head fell off while the merchant and the other sculptors were inspecting the work.

Desperate to salvage his reputation, Pythagoras had the bright idea of carving out a hollow in the statue’s chest and placing the head inside. He then decided to give Nike a pair of wings as he had initially intended, hoping the merchant would be impressed by the ingenuity of his design.

Miraculously, the merchant loved the statue and declared Pythagoras the winner of the competition. The Winged Victory of Samothrace was eventually moved to the Louvre Museum in Paris, where it remains on display to this day.

Despite its turbulent history, the Winged Victory of Samothrace has become one of the most celebrated sculptures in history. The goddess Nike may have lost her head, but she certainly gained a pair of wings and an unlikely place in popular culture.