Nike or Winged Goddess of Victory Maker: Unknown

A.D. 165–256

Ancient Art

Not on view

This panel on an enclosed shrine in the Palmyrene Gate shows a winged Victory alighting on a globe. She extends a palm branch and a wreath to crown a statue (perhaps a Tyche or an Emperor) that would have been housed within the shrine. Frontal, rigid in posture, and with hair and ornamentation like those found on objects elsewhere in Dura-Europos, Victory was especially popular with the Roman army. The army viewed her as an active divine force influencing human affairs and bringing military success.

Medium

Tempera ? on cedar

Dimensions

14 15/16 × 4 1/2 × 5/16 in. (38 × 11.5 × 0.75 cm)

Credit Line

Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos

Accession Number

1929.288

Geography

Made in Syria, Excavated in Dura-Europos, Syria

Culture

Syrian, Dura-Europos

Period

Roman (2nd or 3rd century A.D.)

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Excavated by the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos (Palmyrene Gate), present-day Syria, 1928–37; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 54, no. 4, fig. 2–25
  • Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 38, 322, no. 2, pl. 2, fig. 2.4
  • Katherine M Kiefer and Susan B. Matheson, Life in an Eastern Province: The Roman Fortress at Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1982), 6, no. 14
  • M. I. R., "Yale's Work at Doura," Bulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale University 4, no. 1 (1930), ill. back cover
  • Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Professor Paul V. C. Baur, and Professor Alfred R. Bellinger, The Excavations at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Reports of the Excavations, 9 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1929–44), vol. 2 frontispiece, pl. 1, fig. 1.1
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

figures (representations)

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

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