Faculty of Classics - University of Cambridge

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Nike of Brescia

This victory figure stood at the top of the pediment of the Temple of Vespasian (Roman emperor from 69 to 79).

The figure is reminscent of the Praxitelean Aphrodite of Capua, adapted for Roman purposes: with wings added, the goddess is transformed into the embodiment of Victory, and inscribes the name of the triumphant emperor on her shield. In turn, the figure influenced figures on Trajan’s Column.

There are still some traces of gilding on the right hand of the bronze original

Material: 
Bronze with traces of gilding
Location of Original: 

Brescia Museum

Size: 
1.95m
Accession: 

Sent by the city hall of Brescia to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1877. Transferred to the Museum in 1884

References: 

Richter: Sculpture & Sculptors of the Greeks (1950), 106, fig.330
Dütschke: Antike Bildwerke in Brescia (1875), 153
Brunn-Bruckmann: Denkmäler Griechischer und Römischer Skulptur, 299
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 107, no.560
Reporter: 19 June 1885, 894, no.496

Date: 
c.72 CE
Provenance: 

Found in 1826 at the west end of the Temple of Vespasian in Brescia, northern italy

Number: 
463

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