Nineteenth Century, Winged Victory

Nineteenth century
Winged victory
Bronze gold, alt. cm 98
Diam. base in marble cm 49

The balance in which this winged victory rests, held on only the left ankle, masks the solidity of bronze. The entire sculpture vibrates with opposite lines of force that feature bold plastic lanyards, resulting in an exuberant animation effect. The Victory, with its wings fully open, rides the wind while firmly holding a laurel crown, clear symbol of triumph. Unlike Justice, always standing on two legs, the Victory rests on one foot, variously balanced on a globe, symbolizing on one side the transient flight, on the other hand the universal authority that it enjoys. In this sculpture, a column with a plant decoration is preferred, modulated as if it were a burning torch, another symbol of the disruptive force that accompanies victory.
The base on which stands the Victory, similar to a large and excavated ancient vase, has as handles a couple of lionesses with a speculum lily decoration on the back; two human protomes, with the expression griphana, mark the other parts of the mouth of the vessel. On the neck of the base, leonine heads emerge, swallowed up by a vegetable ornamentation, which also occurs on the foot of the vase.
With very few exceptions, the iconography of the winged victory, in this example perfectly respected, derives from a single model handed down over millennia, now lost. Made of gilded bronze, this model Victoria was cast by the Tarantini in 280 B.C. to celebrate the revenge on the Romans at Heraclea; was stolen by the Romans in 272 B.C. during the Pyrrhic wars, and in 29 B.C., placed by Octavian Augustus on an altar in the Curia Iulia, the seat of the Senate inaugurated by Julius Caesar within the Forum. The Victory of Taranto was destroyed in 402 A.D. for religious reasons, since from 395 Christianity had become de iure credo official of the Empire and the emperor Theodosius did not intend to spare any pagan derogation. Coins and sculptural reproductions kept the memory: of vital importance was the imperial Roman copy found during the excavations of Pompeii, the oldest extant, The Museum of Archaeology in Naples. All the later copies, including the present bronze and the later Vittorie of the monument in honour of Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome, were made from this. The monument was immediately renamed Vittoriano to ensure reference to these sculptures, made by artists Nicola Cantalamessa Papotti (Victory with palm and snake), Adolfo Apolloni (with sword), Mario Rutelli and Arnaldo Zocchi (both with laurel wreath).  The winged victory, once a secular metaphor of the supremacy of Rome, thus became an emblem of universal peace among peoples.

The object is in good condition

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