In many regions of the Mediterranean during the first century B.C., art began to take on a new design. Before the coming of the Romans and the conquests of Alexander the Great, art of the ancient Greeks was taken to a whole new level. The often-used classical ideas, which always consisted of rationality, order, and harmony, were abandoned for a more dramatic, intense, human creation. Artists and sculptors of this period, also called the Hellenistic Era, established that although they could sculpt gods and heroes, they could also create your average human. The way a viewer of Greek art could tell whether it was classical or Hellenistic was if it displayed emotion/motion or not.
             The most famous and delicate Hellenistic Greek sculpture, Nike of Samothrace, represents the Greek passion for beauty, strength, and power. I instantly became attracted to this very beautiful artwork because of its sense of power and movement. Nike was created by a Rhodian sculptor between 220 and 190 B.C. Nike was discovered on the Aegean island of Samothrace in 1863 and immediately sent to the Louvre Museum in Paris, where it is displayed on the landing of the Daru Staircase. The goddess Nike was originally placed upon the front of a ship in order to award victory in battle. I can tell by the way the draperies are intensely wrapped around her body that the artist wanted the viewer to feel her struggle against the sea. In fact, Nike has been called a Hellenistic masterpiece because of this certain feeling of movement. It is also one of the very few sculptures with wings that have caught my eye because most wings are not equipped with such astonishing size and detail.
             The Nike of Samothrace or The Winged Victory is the goddess of victory in Greek Mythology. I feel that the headless, armless, eight-foot-tall figure of Nike symbolizes that beauty and strength can be faceless and still be honored. I am glad that another head was not created or rebuilt because ...