A photographer immortalizes this magnificent sculpture known as the "Nike of Samothrace".
This Nike has stood for many years in the Louvre on a landing with steps leading to the Greek and Roman antiquities galleries in one direction,
and to the Grande Gallerie of paintings in another direction.
This "NIke" (a winged goddess of Victory), originally stood on the prow of a ship sculpted
in a niche that overlooked the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on the island of Samothrace.
She may have commemorated a naval victory in the early second century BC.
Her dramatic and theatrical pose and billowing drapery arae characteristic of the 2nd century Hellenistic period in Greek sculpture.