Educational Affiliation
The Nike of Samothrace
Introduction
Standing tall in the staircase of the Louvre Museum, the Nike of Samothrace also known as the Winged Victory of Samothrace was a valuable piece of art that represented Greeks mastery in human anatomy. As quoted from the video made by Professors Steven Zucker and Beth Harris (2011) on Smart History, Zucker declared that: “So here is a culture that has studied and celebrated the body; and then is willing to use the body for tremendous expressive force.” The Nike of Samothrace was a marble statue sculpted by an unknown Greek artist in the 2nd century B.C. The marble statue is a figure of a woman, now headless and without limbs; however, the wings and voluptuous body are still intact. The physical measurement of statue 3.28 meters high; it was first discovered in 1863 by Charles Champoiseau, the French vice-consul to Turkey (Mancoff & Bosch 2010).
The discovery of the statue was done on the island of Samothrace in Greece. Samothrace is an island in the northern Aegean Sea. The place belongs to the Evros regional unit of Thrace. Early records made by various historians stated that the sculpture was a visual representation of the Goddess of Victory, Nike. Nike is the daughter of Styx and Titan Pallas; she was often portrayed in ancient Greek coins as a winged deity in a chariot and in ships (Hamilton 2012). In the Louvre Museum, the statue stands tall above the wrecked stone ship mainly as a figurehead representing victory to those who follow her. The whole statue of Nike alone is made of Parian marble. This type of marble is commonly found on the Paros Island in Greece. Characterized by semi translucent and fine grained marble of white; since the ancient times, Paros became the main source of all marble used in most Greek sculptures. On the other hand, Rhodian marble was used for the boat of the statue.
The Clothing
Although the statue appears without head and limbs, the illumination made by the marble seems enhancing the dramatic effect in the viewers’ eyes. The statue’s body is encased in a diaphanous chiton of many folds that falls softly to her feet. Beginning from the top, the chiton is bound by a narrow belt located just below the breasts exposing the shapely decolletage. From the breasts, the drapery was tied again with another narrow belt to highlight the voluptuous figure of Nike; in addition to emphasize the gender of the statue of being a woman. The sharp lines made by the garment she wore, gracefully follows the shapely curves of her body whilst the cloth dances with wind. The drapery alone instills the semi-flying motion made by the statue whilst the light playing against the creases of the clothing adds to the realistic approach of the statue. In addition, the himation that is another ancient Greek garment worn over the chiton was rolled upwards, specifically above the waist and loosening as it goes around the Victory’s left hip. Because of the larger alternating folds, the left hip and leg are left uncovered which emphasized the accurate placement of calf, proportioned thigh and noticeably well-alignment of the bones. By just examining the leg of the statue, one can see that the sculptor of the Nike of Samothrace knows the details of the human anatomy. Furthermore, the cloth she wears clung to her body softly like a second skin, billowing against the blow of wind whilst projecting a sharp contrast between the smooth and almost translucent skin of the statue against the fabric’s alternating folds. Robertson (1975) also claimed that the drapery’s twisting patterns and deeper undercuts provided an aura of sexuality and grace at the same time because of the balance and proportionality depicted by the drapery and the nude skin of Nike. Moreover, the drapery that she had, a plain chiton with no of jewels at all represents that Nike is a common goddess of the people, unlike the higher deities found in Mount Olympus.
The Posture
The goddess Nike is depicted almost semi-nude because of her transparent clothing. The figure she represents is the body of an athletic woman, without limbs, feet nor head to recognize the original posture she made. But judging by her physical appearance, the statue was made to depict the scene wherein Nike is on her way to fly; her legs apart from each other and her wings outstretched. The slender build of the goddess adds to the sensual yet classical appearance and charm often found on most Greek sculptures.
“The goddess is a powerful, sensual, and energetic figure. Her striking impact is the result of the sculptor’s combination of skill at naturalism being able to manipulate elements of the work to create a sense of drama. Nike moves forward with her right leg, with the wings splayed behind her whilst her torso tilted for balance.” (Kinnee 2002; p.40).
The twisted pose her body depicts the motion against the strong gust of wind. The Greeks’ intensive study of the human anatomy is seen on the perfect and almost realistic pattern formed by the bones of the legs, feet and arms which are very much in proportion to the real human body. As she attempts to ascend up into the sky, her body responds to the strong winds; this was especially highlighted in the sculpture through the use of deep and hollow dents found on the dress of the statue. The dress and the posture are very much related because both of them are essential in telling the audience the invisible counter and conflicting winds. However, scholars also agree that since the statue lacked the original head arms, it is quite difficult to provide a very good observation in detail. The feathers are the same as the eagles’; large and outstretched which tells the viewers that she is ready to fly at any time. Lastly, her graceful posture is an accurate example that power and gentleness can be combined to form a special work of art.
Venus de Milo versus Nike of Samothrace
Venus de Milo also known as Aphrodite of Melos is another product of the Hellenistic period in ancient Greece. This is made by Alexandros of Antioch and its base is also a white marble and nude figure of a woman. Although both sculptural works came from the Hellenistic period in ancient Greece; there are still a whole lot of differences between the two sculptures. First, Aphrodite of Melos is a woman portrayed as nude with her chiton hanging just mid-way on her hips (Pollitt, 1986). She was indeed the visual representation of an ideal woman’s body with its proportioned body with a slight buff of muscles; the bone framework is noticeable through thick muscles. On the contrary, it differs in the Nike of Samothrace for some aspects. Nike of Samothrace is draped with diaphanous clothing without over-exposing the whole body. Meanwhile, Aphrodite of Melos is a naked woman without any shame in removing her garments. Her skin looks as soft and smooth similar to Nike’s skin; both sculptures’ are armless, with only the head of the Venus de Milo are still intact after many centuries. The decolletage of and the upper main part of the waistline is naked while the other parts are covered. Meanwhile, Nike’s body was partially draped without revealing too much skin. Many scholars believe that Nike was a statue that will bind Romans to the influences of other cultures. The Romans have long sculpted their statues’ with elaborate clothing whilst the Greeks are often proud of creating nude sculptures to show off perfect body proportions. Scholars believed that by the time the Nike of Samothrace was created, the Greeks’ started to drape their statues for the sake of conservative issues. In addition, Nike was a close acquaintance of Athena and as a virgin goddess, she must be sculpted clothed (Mancoff & Bosch, 2010). The Spearbearer is also a work of the Hellenistic age which portrays the perfect male body as oppose to the female body of Aphrodite of Melos (Sienkewicz, 2007).
Figure 1: The Nike of Samothrace standing tall and proud on her stone ship. (Image Source: Victory of Samothrace image number 76 by Luciano Morpurgo, 2008).
References
Hamilton, E. (2012). The Classic Bestseller: Mythology, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes (1st ed.). New York: Hachette Book Group.
Kinnee, L. (2002). The Nike of Samothrace: The Next Generation Attalid Victory Monument (1st ed.). Yale University. Retrieved from http://www.yale.edu/heyzeus/winter2002/nike.pdf
Mancoff, D., & Bosch, L. (2010). Icons of Beauty (1st ed.). Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press.
Morpurgo, L. (2008). Victory of Samothrace. Retrieved from http://www.lucianomorpurgo.com/foto/Paris/Louvre/slides/76.Victory.of.Samothrace.html
Pollitt, J. (1986). Art in the Hellenistic age (1st ed.). Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press.
Sienkewicz, T. (2007). Ancient Greece (1st ed.). Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press.
