Sculpture of the Week: The Nike of Samothrace, 190 BC

The Louvre

Also known as “Winged Victory” or “The Winged Victory of Samothrace,” this parian marble sculpture was created by an unknown Greek artist in 190 B.C. to commemorate a triumphant naval battle. Originally, it was mounted on a gray marble pedestal meant to resemble the prow of a ship. It is believed to have been placed in a niche in an open-air theater which overlooked a ship monument to Demetrius I Poliokretes.


Discovered in 1863 by French archaeologist Charles Champoiseau and brought to the Louvre for reassembly, the arms and head of the piece have never been found. However, art historians believe that her arms extended upward with one hand cupped around her mouth as she heralded her arrival from the Heavens. In 1950, one of her hands was found—missing its fingers. A ring finger and thumb in storage in an Austrian museum fit the piece and were reunited with the hand which is on display in a case next to the statue’s permanent and long-time home at the top of the Daru Staircase at the Louvre Museum.

Winged Victory Being Moved in 1939
The Louvre

The fine sculpting of the piece is often used as an example of the ideals of beauty so associated with Classical Greek art. This is a work that has inspired many artists in all genres and is one of the most beloved antiquities in the world. In 1939, with Europe embroiled in war, The Nike was removed from its perch on the Daru Staircase and taken to a safe location. The statue’s importance and the reverence of the French people were evident as the sculpture was carefully crated and lowered down the grand expanse of stairs.

After the war, it was returned to its place in the Louvre. Many copies of the sculpture exist. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was fascinated by the organic beauty of the sculpture and often incorporated copies of it in his designs. The Winged Victory of Samothrace is often considered one of the most breathtaking sculptures ever made. Many feel that the piece is the embodiment of the feminine spirit. Others feel that it is a symbol of triumph. Regardless of any meaning assigned to it, no one can deny its supreme beauty. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: “Bashaw, Lord Dudley’s Favorite Dog,” by Matthew Cotes Wyatt, 1831

Bashaw or
Lord Dudley's Favourite Dog or
The Faithful Friend of Man Trampling Underfoot
His Most Insidious Enemy
Matthew Cotes Wyatt, 1831
Commissioned by Lord Dudley
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In 1831, the extravagant Lord Dudley commissioned famed sculptor Matthew Cotes Wyatt to create a life-sized bronze sculpture of his favorite dog—Bashaw. Money, Wyatt was told, was no object. Bashaw was brought to Wyatt’s studio for sittings over fifty times and the artist studied the canine’s every feature.


The sculpture was to be polychrome bronze with jeweled eyes. Lord Dudley personally selected the gemstones for the eyes after rifling through the family jewels. He chose lovely Persian topaz and sardonyx. Wyatt finished the magnificent sculpture at a cost of £5000. Now, just to put things into perspective, a full-length marble sculpture of a human man would have cost £3000. So, we can see that this was, indeed, an epic undertaking.

Too bad Lord Dudley never saw it. He died before the sculpture was completed. Even more of a pity is the fact that Wyatt was never paid for the work. Lord Dudley’s heirs referred to pay the cost which they deemed ridiculous. Wyatt kept the sculpture and displayed it in his own studio in 1834, and later at 1851’s Great Exhibition where it was heralded as the finest figure of a quadruped ever sculpted.

Detail showing topaz and sardonyx eyes
The Victoria and Albert Museum

As times and tastes changed, Bashaw’s sculpture fell out of favor. In 1960, The Victoria & Albert Museum purchased the piece for only £200. Today, however, it is appreciated for the impressive statue that it is. You can see Bashaw in all his glory as he nonchalantly tramples a large snake (which also serves to hold him up) when you visit London’s V&A.

Sculpture of the Week: Prince Albert by Emil Wolff, 1839

Marble Bust of
Prince Albert, 1839
Emil Wolff
The Royal Collection

This exquisite marble bust of an eighteen-year-old Prince Albert was sculpted by Emil Wolff in 1839. Albert sat for the sculpture while on five-month student tour of Italy. The figure perfectly captures Albert’s youthful countenance with an expression that is at once carefree and wise. Wolff was known for his Classically-inspired sculptures and portrait busts. His work graces many a museum and fine home.


A favorite of Queen Victoria’s, she kept this handsome bust next to her desk in Buckingham Palace and always found delight in gazing at her beloved husband’s young face.

Sculpture of the Week: “Bashaw, Lord Dudley’s Favorite Dog,” by Matthew Cotes Wyatt, 1831

Bashaw or
Lord Dudley's Favourite Dog or
The Faithful Friend of Man Trampling Underfoot
His Most Insidious Enemy
Matthew Cotes Wyatt, 1831
Commissioned by Lord Dudley
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In 1831, the extravagant Lord Dudley commissioned famed sculptor Matthew Cotes Wyatt to create a life-sized bronze sculpture of his favorite dog—Bashaw. Money, Wyatt was told, was no object. Bashaw was brought to Wyatt’s studio for sittings over fifty times and the artist studied the canine’s every feature.


The sculpture was to be polychrome bronze with jeweled eyes. Lord Dudley personally selected the gemstones for the eyes after rifling through the family jewels. He chose lovely Persian topaz and sardonyx. Wyatt finished the magnificent sculpture at a cost of £5000. Now, just to put things into perspective, a full-length marble sculpture of a human man would have cost £3000. So, we can see that this was, indeed, an epic undertaking.

Too bad Lord Dudley never saw it. He died before the sculpture was completed. Even more of a pity is the fact that Wyatt was never paid for the work. Lord Dudley’s heirs referred to pay the cost which they deemed ridiculous. Wyatt kept the sculpture and displayed it in his own studio in 1834, and later at 1851’s Great Exhibition where it was heralded as the finest figure of a quadruped ever sculpted.

Detail showing topaz and sardonyx eyes
The Victoria and Albert Museum

As times and tastes changed, Bashaw’s sculpture fell out of favor. In 1960, The Victoria & Albert Museum purchased the piece for only £200. Today, however, it is appreciated for the impressive statue that it is. You can see Bashaw in all his glory as he nonchalantly tramples a large snake (which also serves to hold him up) when you visit London’s V&A.

Sculpture of the Week: The Nike of Samothrace, 190 BC

The Louvre

Also known as “Winged Victory” or “The Winged Victory of Samothrace,” this parian marble sculpture was created by an unknown Greek artist in 190 B.C. to commemorate a triumphant naval battle. Originally, it was mounted on a gray marble pedestal meant to resemble the prow of a ship. It is believed to have been placed in a niche in an open-air theater which overlooked a ship monument to Demetrius I Poliokretes.


Discovered in 1863 by French archaeologist Charles Champoiseau and brought to the Louvre for reassembly, the arms and head of the piece have never been found. However, art historians believe that her arms extended upward with one hand cupped around her mouth as she heralded her arrival from the Heavens. In 1950, one of her hands was found—missing its fingers. A ring finger and thumb in storage in an Austrian museum fit the piece and were reunited with the hand which is on display in a case next to the statue’s permanent and long-time home at the top of the Daru Staircase at the Louvre Museum.

Winged Victory Being Moved in 1939
The Louvre

The fine sculpting of the piece is often used as an example of the ideals of beauty so associated with Classical Greek art. This is a work that has inspired many artists in all genres and is one of the most beloved antiquities in the world. In 1939, with Europe embroiled in war, The Nike was removed from its perch on the Daru Staircase and taken to a safe location. The statue’s importance and the reverence of the French people were evident as the sculpture was carefully crated and lowered down the grand expanse of stairs.

After the war, it was returned to its place in the Louvre. Many copies of the sculpture exist. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was fascinated by the organic beauty of the sculpture and often incorporated copies of it in his designs. The Winged Victory of Samothrace is often considered one of the most breathtaking sculptures ever made. Many feel that the piece is the embodiment of the feminine spirit. Others feel that it is a symbol of triumph. Regardless of any meaning assigned to it, no one can deny its supreme beauty.

Sculpture of the Week: The Laocoön Group

Pope Julius II's vision of what the sculpture
would have resembled.

At the same time he stretched forth to tear the knots with his hands
his fillets soaked with saliva and black venom
at the same time he lifted to heaven horrendous cries:
like the bellowing when a wounded bull has fled from the altar
and has shaken the ill-aimed axe from its neck.

--Virgil, The Aeneid

Originally from a lost play by Sophocles, the story of Laocoön and his sons has been translated dozens of times and influenced the works of many Hellenistic Greek writers as well as their contemporary counterparts. The most well-known account of Laocoön comes from Virgil’s Aeneid who described the grisly death of brave Laocoön whose attempt to expose the trickery of the Trojan Horse (by piercing it with an spear) so angered Athena that she sent vicious serpents to strangle him and tear him to shreds, an act which also engulfed his sons.

Laocoön and his sons inspired many works of art—the most famous being the group of sculptures commonly called The Laocoön Group. The group is presently in the collection of the Vatican Museums. Given the age of the statue, there is much debate about its exact origins. Some believe it to have been a later copy of another sculpture created between 42 and 20 BCE. However, other scholars feel that the group was sculpted nearer to 160 BCE. So, let’s just say it was created sometime between 160 and 20 BCE. No matter how you look at it—that’s old. I’m always tickled when I hear people seriously refer to something in the U.S. as “ancient,” especially when they’re referring to an object from, say, the 1910’s. THIS is ancient.

Pliny, the ancient historian, suggested in his Natural History that the group was located for a time in the palace of Titus and that the statue was created from one unified piece of rock. We now know, however, that the statue was sculpted from individual stones for each figure and assembled. Others feel certain that the piece was sculpted as a commission by a wealthy Roman. This is also a matter of some debate. One thing we can be sure of is that the group was unearthed in 1506 and was put on display on the Belvedere Gardens of the Vatican by Pope Julius II.

The Group as seen in a photo dating to 1860
howing the Renaissance era arm replacements.

When the sculpture was found, various pieces of it were missing. Laocoön’s right arm was missing as was the portion of snake it held. Similarly, the arm of one child was broken off as was the hand of the other. Pope Julius—always up for a good time—held a contest to see which sculptor could create the best replacement limbs for the piece. The contest was to be judged by Raphael. Michelangelo (not one to keep silent about his opinions) insisted that Laocoön’s arm had to have been bent backward. The pope and Raphael disagreed, and, so an arm extended toward heaven in a heroic pose was chosen and added to the sculpture along with an new hand and a new arm for the youngsters.

In 1906, an archaeologist and art dealer, discovered a fragment of an ancient arm which he felt was a piece of the original arm of Laocoön. The piece of the arm was clearly bent backwards as Michelangelo had thought it should have been. The fragment did, indeed, turn out to be the only surviving chunk of Laocoön’s missing right arm. But, the Vatican tends to be busy. So, the arm sat in their warehouse until the 1950’s upon which time someone remembered it. The Sixteenth Century replacement limbs were removed and Laocoön’s right arm-piece was restored. The children were left in their original handless and armless state. In restoring the statue, art historians discovered that the sculpture was indeed created from several pieces of stone—which they promptly disassembled. In doing so, they realized that at one point, the group had been configured differently—the figures standing closer together. However, with the addition of the original arm, the group was restored to the composition in which it had been discovered in 1506.

The Sculpture as it is today with the original arm fragment
and the removal of the sons' newer limbs.

Many consider this sculpture to be one of the finest ever created. The looks of anguish on the faces of the figures challenge us to believe that it is stone and not flesh. The figures seem to move and have such a natural weight and presence that it’s difficult to imagine they could be anything less than real.