Dome

Three quarter view from below right; This exceptional monument was unearthed in 1863 on the small island of Samothrace in the northwest Aegean. It was discovered by Charles Champoiseau, French Vice-Consul to Adrianople (Turkey). The goddess of Victory (Nike, in Greek) is shown in the form of a winged woman standing on the prow of a ship, braced against the strong wind blowing through her garments. With her right hand cupped around her mouth, she announced the event she was dedicated to commemorate. The colossal work was placed in a rock niche that had been dug into a hill; it overlooked the theater of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. This niche may also have contained a pool filled with water in which the ship appeared to float. Given its placement, the work was meant to be viewed from the front left-hand side; this explains the disparity in sculpting technique, the right side of the body being much less detailed. If it is associated with a major Rhodian naval victory, the work can be dated to the second century BCE-it would have been erected in honor of the battle of Myonnisos, or perhaps the Rhodian victory at Side in 190 BCE against the fleet of Antiochus III of Syria. Source: Louvre Museum [website]; http://www.louvre.fr/ (accessed 4/15/2011)