Winged Victory

Winged Victory stands alone in a classically stark marble rotunda. It's energy is aerodynamic - following the wet windswept folds of her dress, over her strong legs and shoulders, off her wings and feet and circling around the walls in a full circuit.

There are many sculptures from the Greeks, Romans and Etruscans, and onward to Michelangelo and Rodin that make marble appear so lifelike one would swear blood was rushing through veins, or folds of cloth to be so delicate as to imagine a breeze stirring them. But that is amateurish compared to this. Look here at her stomach, how it is distinct from the wet veil of cloth covering her. Utterly distinct. One piece of solid marble begets wet over sheer over skin over muscle over feeling. Yes, feeling. You feel it. Her pride and determination and strength - her core and everything that goes into her stance. And you know how the cloth feels - how it sticks and pulls, how the water pools in her navel and trickles over her thigh and collects at her feet. How her stomach tightens against the cold fabric and supports her in the wind on the prow of the boat on which she stands. Her wings are magestic. Her stance is powerful and feminine. But to me it is all about her stomach; that is where her energy comes.

Tucked in a corner of the rotunda, a good ten feet away, is a twelve inch glass box sitting on a pedastal at eye level. It contains her right hand, which originally was cupped around her mouth as she announced her victory. Now it sits on its back, palm up, in more of a position of welcome or abundance. Often overlooked, it is the second most expressive thing about her.

This sculpture was created to commemorate an important Rhodian naval victory. It was placed in a rock niche in the side of a cliff and wasn't unearthed until 1863.

To me, this sculpture is a better representation of "woman" than all the round-bellied fertility fetishes and beautifully serene Venuses and beatific Madonnas combined, because those sculptures capture only a facet of womanhood. Too often, they are one-dimensional. Winged Victory in her anonyminity and masterful lines is trancendent.