The Winged Victory

My first visit to Paris in the fall of 2005 brought me a stunning revelation....I love sculpture! Seeing some of the world's most famous pieces up close and in three dimension gives such a different impression that seeing photographs of these same pieces. The Winged Victory of Samothrace is my very favorite piece. She's on display in the Louvre much as she was on display when she was created....mounted high on a huge piece of stone seeming to fly in the face of the wind. When I first saw the above picture in Robert Edsel's, "Rescuing da Vinci" I literally gasped! There was this magnificent piece of sculpture dangling from a block and tackle! What if they dropped it? or bumped it against something? What were they doing with it? As the book explains, these art lovers were desperately trying to save the Louvre's treasures from the grasping hands on Hitler's Nazis. And we all know now that they were successful...The Winged Victory currently graces a beautiful two-story alcove at the end of a long Louvre hallway. She is glorious in her triumph not only over the centuries, but also over looting by Nazi invaders. As Edsel's book reveals, many works of art throughout Europe were either destroyed by World War II bombings or remain missing. A famous painting by Raphael, Portrait of a Young Man , was stolen from a Cracow, Poland museum...its whereabouts are unknown. Amber panels from the Amber Room of Peter the Great were looted by the Nazis in 1940 and shipped to Konigsberg Castle. They survived Allied bombings only to disappear when the Soviet troops stormed the Castle. Some think they were destroyed; others believe they were stolen and remain hidden somewhere (see page 288 of "Rescuing da Vinci" to view these magnificent panels in place).

If you are an art lover, a history buff, or just enjoy a good detective story, "Rescuing da Vinci" will keep you engaged in its gripping story. It's well worth the price of purchase!