Winged Victory of Samothrace

The Winged Victory of Samothrace on the upper landing of the Louvre's Daru staircase, where she has stood since 1883. Carved from Parian marble, probably around 190 BC, she is shown landing on the prow of a warship, and the prow was dug up on Samothrace as well, after Charles Champoiseau found the statue there in 1863. She has no head or arms, yet the gown tells the whole story: it clings to her body in front and whips out behind her, as if she has just met a sea wind.