Winged Victory of Brescia

Lore & Background

Initially believed to be a Hellenistic work from the mid-3rd century BC, later studies recognized it as a pastiche created in Roman times after 69 AD. A restoration by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure established that the statue was cast in the 1st century AD in a local foundry and was not an assemblage but created as a 'Winged Victory.' The reference model is the Afrodite Urania of the 'Cyrene type.' The figure wears a chiton and himation, with the left leg slightly raised, possibly resting on the helmet of Mars. In Roman times, wings were added to transform the work into the goddess Victoria.

The statue was discovered on July 20, 1826, partially disassembled and hidden in the western cavity of the Capitolium, likely to prevent melting during barbarian invasions. During World War I, it was moved to Rome for safekeeping and returned in April 1920 under Senator Pompeo Gherardo Molmenti. It was loaned to the Kunsthaus Zürich from November 1948 to March 1949. An early hypothesis suggested the statue was brought to Rome by Augustus after Cleopatra's death and donated to Brixia, later transformed into Nike after the Second Battle of Bedriacum. However, X-ray fluorescence analyses showed no significant differences between wings and body, indicating a single constructive process.

Reader's Guide

The Winged Victory of Brescia holds significance as a rare surviving Roman bronze and a civic symbol of Brescia. Its discovery in 1826, hidden to prevent destruction, underscores the value placed on such works during times of conflict. The statue's history reflects scholarly debates about its origins—whether a Hellenistic original, a Roman pastiche, or a single-cast creation—with modern scientific analysis supporting the latter. Its transformation from a possible Aphrodite to a Victory figure illustrates Roman adaptation of Greek models. The statue's travels for safekeeping during World War I and its return highlight its cultural importance. Numerous copies worldwide, from Paris to New York, attest to its enduring legacy as an artistic masterpiece. The 2018 restoration and new display structure further cement its role as a key artifact of Roman art and Brescian heritage.

Did You Know?

• The statue was discovered on July 20, 1826, partially disassembled and hidden in the Capitolium of Brescia.
• X-ray fluorescence analyses revealed no significant differences between the wings and the body, suggesting a single constructive process.
• A bronze reproduction of the statue was donated to Napoleon III after the Battle of Solferino in 1859.
• The statue was loaned to the Kunsthaus Zürich from November 1948 to March 1949.

A Hidden Treasure Reclaimed

On the evening of July 20, 1826, workers uncovered a remarkable bronze figure tucked away in the western cavity of the Capitolium of Brescia, wedged between the temple structure and the Cidneo. The statue was found partially disassembled and carefully concealed alongside a collection of other Roman bronzes, including a series of portrait busts. The explanation for this deliberate hiding is striking: during centuries of barbarian invasions by Goths and Huns, the city's inhabitants apparently sought to protect their most valuable metalwork from being melted down to forge weapons. This act of preservation, born of desperation, ultimately gifted future generations an object in exceptional condition. The discovery transformed the Winged Victory into one of Brescia's most recognizable emblems, a tangible link to the city's Roman past that had lain dormant for nearly two millennia. The statue's survival, intact and largely unaltered, made it a singular treasure among Roman bronzes, and its reappearance in the nineteenth century immediately placed it at the center of scholarly debate about its origins, date, and artistic lineage.

Debunking the Pastiche

For much of the nineteenth century, scholars assumed the Brescia Victory was a Hellenistic masterpiece from around the mid-third century BC, later patched together in Roman imperial times from pieces of different statues. This pastiche theory dominated for decades. That consensus began to crumble when the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, working alongside specialists from Sapienza University of Rome, undertook a comprehensive restoration beginning in July 2018. The interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, engineers, scientific consultants, and restorers concluded that the figure was not an assemblage at all but a single casting produced in a local foundry during the first century AD. Critical evidence came from X-ray fluorescence analyses conducted as part of a research project at the Institute of Archaeological Sciences of Goethe University Frankfurt, led by Edilberto Formigli and Andrea Salcuni. The scans revealed no significant compositional differences between the wings and the body, indicating the entire work was created in one constructive process. This finding fundamentally redefined the statue's identity: it was made to be a Winged Victory from the outset, not a repurposed Aphrodite.

From Aphrodite to Victoria

The statue's pose draws on a well-known Greek model: the Afrodite Urania of the Cyrene type, a specific variation of the goddess's posture identified in a sculpture found at Cyrene. Additional details—the subtle torsion of the torso, the particular arrangement of the arms—echo Greek works from the fifth and sixth centuries BC. The figure wears a chiton pinned at the shoulders and a himation draped around the lower limbs, while the left leg lifts slightly, suggesting the foot once rested on the helmet of Mars. The hair was adorned with silver and copper damascening on the head. A long-held hypothesis proposed that Augustus had the statue brought to Rome after Cleopatra's death in 29 BC, then gifted it to Brixia as a gesture of political goodwill, perhaps when the city received the title Colonia Augusta. The transformation from Aphrodite to Victory was then linked to the Second Battle of Bedriacum, where Marcus Antonius Primus defeated Vitellius, clearing Vespasian's path to the throne. Vespasian subsequently ordered a monumental renovation of the forum and Capitoline temple, and it was assumed the goddess received two large feathered wings on her back while her hands were repositioned to inscribe a dedicatory text on the shield of Ares, which has since been lost.

A City's Emblem Across Centuries

The Winged Victory's journey did not end with its 1826 rediscovery. When World War I threatened cultural treasures along the front lines, the Italian government ordered the statue transferred to Rome for safekeeping. After the war, Senator Pompeo Gherardo Molmenti, appointed Undersecretary for Antiquities and Fine Arts, personally oversaw its return to Brescia in a solemn ceremony in April 1920. The statue's fame continued to spread: from November 1948 to March 1949 it was loaned to the Kunsthaus Zürich for an exhibition celebrating Lombard art. Across Italy, the Victory became a symbol of remembrance and civic pride, spawning numerous reproductions—a gilded bronze atop a war memorial column in Bolsena, a 1919 cast by Paolo Enrico De Barbieri in Carcare, a wingless copy commissioned by Gabriele D'Annunzio for the Vittoriale in Gardone Riviera, and replicas in Rovereto, Trento, and Passo del Tonale. In Brescia itself, copies grace Palazzo della Loggia, a 1935 bronze in the Cloister of Memory, and a Rotary Club donation at a Via Labirinto roundabout. Today, the original stands in a purpose-built structure designed by Spanish architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg, set on a new earthquake-resistant base at the Capitolium.

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